Alec Baldwin’s lawyers say prosecutors hid evidence the gun was damaged

Alec Baldwin’s attorneys have filed a fourth motion to dismiss his murder indictment, arguing that prosecutors suppressed exculpatory evidence that his .45-caliber Colt revolver was damaged at the time of the fatal accident.

Baldwin’s defense accuses prosecutor Kari Morrissey of improperly suppressing an expert report that found “unexplained tool marks” on the gun’s sear — the part of the trigger that holds the hammer in place.

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Baldwin is accused of pointing a gun at cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and firing while setting up a scene in October 2021. He maintained that he did not pull the trigger, and his defense attorney argued that the gun may have malfunctioned.

Baldwin is set to go on trial for manslaughter in Santa Fe, N.M., in less than three weeks. The gunsmith who mistakenly loaded a live round into his gun instead of a limp dummy is already serving an 18-month sentence.

The FBI broke off the sear during a test by hitting the hammer with a hammer to demonstrate that the gun would not fire even if it was jerked violently. The prosecutor’s office then hired an expert, Lucien Haag, who disassembled the gun and concluded that it could only have fired by pressing the trigger.

Haag’s report, confirming the prosecution’s position, was completed in August 2023 and submitted to the defense. However, at the end of the month, Haag also presented two additional reports that were not disclosed. The defense learned of these reports during questioning of Haag and his son Michael in preparation for trial in April and May 2024 and asked the prosecutor to provide them.

The third report mentions “unexplained tool marks” and states that they do not appear to be original manufacturing marks, nor are they unlikely to be the result of FBI testing.

The defense argues this “contradicts” the state’s theory that the gun was operational at the time of the shooting and that Morrissey concealed that information for nearly nine months.

Baldwin’s lawyers further maintain that Morrissey withheld extensive additional material – some of which they argued was beneficial to the defense – until almost the eve of trial. The motion accuses the prosecutor’s office of “grossly disregarding” its obligation to provide the defense with relevant evidence and playing a game of “hide the ball” in order to “win at all costs.”

“Whether or not the state’s violations of disclosure laws were inadvertent (which is difficult to believe under the circumstances), the state’s exclusive focus on obtaining Baldwin’s conviction caused the state to lose sight of its ethical obligations and to abandon all efforts to for transparency,” the proposal stated.

According to the defense motion, Morrissey admitted she should have turned Haag’s reports over to the defense as soon as she received them last August.

“The failure to release the August 31 supplementary report was my fault,” Morrissey wrote. “The day I received it, I intended to forward it on, but I see from my email that I did not.”

In the third report, Haag states that the unexplained tool marks do not change his conclusion that the gun operated normally. Haag wrote that based on the results of earlier tests conducted by the FBI, the marks “are unlikely to have had any effect on the operation of the revolver at the time of the incident.”

Baldwin’s attorneys want to dismiss the case on two other grounds: First, the FBI destroyed the gun, and second, they argue the circumstances do not meet the legal requirements for manslaughter in New Mexico.

Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer is scheduled to hear arguments on those motions Friday afternoon. The judge denied an earlier motion to dismiss the case because of alleged jury trial irregularities.

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