Erlinda Ocampo Johnson, who claimed she believed in Alec Baldwin’s manslaughter case, said she thought the prosecution should be dismissed because evidence was concealed.
On Friday, a special prosecutor withdrew from the manslaughter case against Alec Baldwin, saying she believed the state should have abandoned it voluntarily.
Later that day, Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer dropped Baldwin’s case “with prejudice,” which means that charges against the actor could not be refiled.
Baldwin, 66, was charged with involuntary manslaughter in the unintentional shooting death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, who was murdered in 2021 on a New Mexico set for the film “Rust” when Baldwin was holding a handgun intended to be used as a prop. In March, “Rust” armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed was convicted of involuntary manslaughter in the shooting and sentenced to 18 months in jail.
Special prosecutor Erlinda Ocampo Johnson, who accused Baldwin of being careless in her opening statement, said she realized the prosecution’s case was in jeopardy Friday when she discovered that several bullets had not been given over to the defense.
“It was clear that something should have been turned over,” Ocampo Johnson told NBC News on Friday night.
Ocampo Johnson resigned Friday and walked out of court before a hearing to determine if the evidence error meant Baldwin’s lawsuit should be dismissed, as his lawyers had urged.
Her partner special prosecutor, Kari Morrissey, stated in court that Ocampo Johnson quit in part because she “didn’t agree with the decision to hold a public hearing,” although Ocampo Johnson denied that a hearing should have been convened at all.
“I believed that the right decision would have been a dismissal,” Ocampo Johnson stated.
When asked if there was pushback to that advice, Ocampo Johnson replied, “I wouldn’t say ‘push-back,’ it was ‘go forward with the case.'”
Baldwin’s lawyers urged the judge to dismiss the case when it was found that Troy Teske, a former police officer and friend of Gutierrez-Reed’s stepfather, sent Colt. 45-caliber ammunition to the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office on March 6 (the day Gutierrez-Reed was convicted).
defense counsel said they should have been informed about the bullets.
Morrissey said that the disputed ammunition was unrelated to the case and was kept from Baldwin’s counsel.
“There is no reason to believe that the evidence that we discussed in court today was related to the set of ‘Rust,'” Morrissey stated after the lawsuit was dropped. She expressed her disagreement with the judge’s ruling but respected it.
Morrissey did not immediately reply to demands for further information about the matter on Friday.
Ocampo Johnson stated that she believed in Baldwin’s criminal case and was prepared to present proof that the pistol “was not handled the way it should have been” in a video taken days before Hutchins’ death.
According to Ocampo Johnson, Baldwin should have been aware of industry norms such as never pointing weapons at people and always treating them as if they were loaded.
“I believed in the case,” she explained. “Because I feel—clearly, a woman was slain. “There was some reckless behavior on set.”
However, she stated that it is up to defense counsel, not prosecutors, to determine whether material is relevant to their defense or not.
Ocampo Johnson said she does not believe any evidence was hidden on purpose.
“I don’t believe it was purposeful. “I really don’t believe that,” she stated. “I think it was just something that — it wasn’t turned over, and it should have been.”
After the Baldwin case was dismissed, Gutierrez-Reed’s attorney, Jason Bowles, stated, “We will be moving for her immediate release.”
Ocampo Johnson was not engaged in the prosecution and could not comment on how Baldwin’s case may influence Gutierrez-Reed’s defense counsel, but she doubted that the disputed ammunition would help overturn her conviction.
“I don’t think it should impact her case, but it certainly should have been turned over in this case,” Ocampo Johnson said.
