‘Rust’ prosecutor who quit moments before charges were dropped calls out Alec Baldwin’s ‘reckless’ on-set behavior

The special prosecutor who resigned moments before the involuntary manslaughter charges against Alec Baldwin were tossed said the actor’s “horseplay” with the gun that killed “Rust” cinematographer Halyna Hutchins could be seen as “reckless.”

“Based on my evaluation of the evidence that I was privy to and that I saw when I came on board on this case, was that there were numerous clips from the filming on the set that showed that Mr. Baldwin, unfortunately, did engage in some horseplay with this gun,” Erlinda Ocampo Johnson, told NewsNation’s Chris Cuomo Friday night.

“For example, one individual who was interviewed by the OSHA investigators and testified or gave an interview that there was a time that he allowed Mr. Baldwin to use him kind of as a target to shoot blanks at him as at his person, and obviously these are real guns. You don’t do that with real guns,” Johnson added.

“You don’t use another person as a target, as a human target, so that could potentially be reckless.”

Johnson denied allegations she dramatically resigned from the case because the hearing over the handling of bullets and guns on the set of the ill-fated western was public.

“I left because I learned about this evidence when the public learned about it yesterday, late afternoon,” she said, referring to information that the trial judge said the state willfully withheld from the defense team.

“I came on the case towards the end of April, so I had to get up to speed. I was not involved in the Hannah Gutierrez case at all. And so I was not aware that this individual had taken this ammunition to the sheriff’s department and provided it to the officers. I learned all of that yesterday,” Johnson insisted.

“When the motion hearing began, my position was…we have an obligation as prosecutors, we have an obligation not only to the people, but to the defendant and our obligation is to make sure that all the evidence is turned over,” she continued.

“I have ethical obligations and personally, I have moral obligations, and my ethical obligation, and my moral obligations really are not that different. 

“And so when I see that something isn’t right, and when I see that the law isn’t followed, I don’t care who you are, where you are, you make the right decision. And for me, the right decision was to walk up to the judge and ask to be allowed to withdraw before that circus of a hearing got underway.”

Baldwin, 66, broke down in tears when the judge dismissed the charges and ruled that they could not be filed again.

The bombshell twist brought an end to the nearly three-year legal battle over the Oct. 21, 2021 death of Halyna Hutchins, the cinematographer who was struck by a live bullet fired from the gun Baldwin was using as a prop.

Hannah Guttierez-Reed, the on-set armorer, was convicted of involuntary manslaughter in March, and was sentenced to 18 months in prison.

Baldwin was initially charged in connection with the incident in January 2023, though those charges were eventually dropped. He was charged again in January 2024.