legal team

Four years after the “Rust” movie shooting, New Mexico officials have moved Alec Baldwin’s lawsuit alleging malicious prosecution to federal court.

This week’s filing is the latest twist in the long legal saga after the October 2021 on-set death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.

Baldwin, the 67-year-old star and a producer of the western film, had been facing a felony involuntary manslaughter charge for his role in Hutchins’ accidental shooting. But the judge overseeing Baldwin’s case abruptly dismissed the charge against him during his July 2024 trial after concluding that prosecutors withheld evidence that may have been helpful to his legal team.

Six months later, Baldwin sued New Mexico’s district attorney and special prosecutors, asserting malicious prosecution. The actor claimed he had been made a celebrity scapegoat because of the intense media pressure on local authorities to solve the high-profile case.

His lawsuit targeted New Mexico special prosecutor Kari T. Morrissey, 1st Judicial Dist. Atty. Mary Carmack-Altwies and Santa Fe County sheriff’s deputies, who led the investigation into Hutchins’ death.

The defendants have denied Baldwin’s allegations.

Baldwin’s wrongful prosecution suit was first filed in New Mexico court in Santa Fe.

On Tuesday, the defendants, including Morrissey, exercised their legal right to shift the case to federal court. The decision was made, in part, because “Mr. Baldwin brought federal civil rights claims in his lawsuit,” said Albuquerque attorney Luis Robles, who represents the defendants.

In addition, Baldwin does not live in New Mexico, where the case was filed.

Baldwin could object to the move and petition for it to be brought back to state court. On Wednesday, his team was not immediately available for comment.

A New Mexico judge had dismissed Baldwin’s malicious prosecution claims in July, citing 90 days of inactivity in the case. Baldwin’s legal team petitioned to get the case reinstated and the judge agreed to the request.

That prompted the defendants’ move to shift the case to the higher court.

During his Santa Fe trial last year, Baldwin’s lawyers had sought to turn the focus away from whether Baldwin pulled his gun’s trigger in the accidental shooting to where the lethal bullet came from.

Baldwin’s attorneys repeatedly accused law enforcement officers and prosecutors of bungling the case, including by allegedly hiding potential evidence — a batch of bullets that they said may have been related to the one that killed Hutchins.

Convicted music mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs looked to the White House for major relief amid his legal saga, President Trump says.

“I have a lot of people asking for pardons,” Trump said Monday as reporters pressed him about whether he will pardon Ghislaine Maxwell, the imprisoned former girlfriend of Jeffrey Epstein. Trump went on to name-drop Combs, using one of his former stage names.

“I call him Puff Daddy, he’s asked me for a pardon,” he continued. A representative for Combs did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but reports about a potential pardon for the Bad Boys Records founder and former Cîroc alcohol entrepreneur first surfaced months ago.

Combs, also formerly known as “Puffy,” “P. Diddy” and “Love,” was convicted in July in his high-profile federal criminal case, in which he was accused of sexually assaulting numerous women. Jurors found Combs guilty on two prostitution-related charges but cleared him of the most serious: racketeering and sex trafficking.

A month after the verdict, CNN reported that Combs’ legal team had reached out to the Trump administration to clear his name. “It’s my understanding that we’ve reached out and had conversations in reference to a pardon,” attorney Nicole Westmoreland told the outlet at the time. Days later, the New York Post reported otherwise, with Combs’ lead attorney Marc Agnifilo disputing Westmoreland’s claim.

Earlier this year, Trump also issued pardons for rapper NBA YoungBoy and “Chrisley Knows Best” reality stars Todd and Julie Chrisley, among others.

Combs was sentenced Friday to more than four years in federal prison for transporting prostitutes across state lines for drug-fueled sex performances he dubbed “freak-offs.” The rapper’s legal team on Monday requested he carry out his sentence at FCI Fort Dix, a low-security federal prison in New Jersey. This will allow Combs “to address drug abuse issues and to maximize family visitation and rehabilitative efforts,” lawyer Teny Geragos wrote.

Meanwhile, as Combs prepares for time behind bars, 50 Cent is making it abundantly clear he’s going to make the most out of his rap foe’s sentence. Over the weekend, the “Candy Shop” musician poked fun at an upcoming speaking engagement that Combs had scheduled before his sentencing, joking that he’s open to take the spot.

50 Cent, real name Curtis Jackson, also reacted on Trump’s latest pardon comment, of course. “Man you can’t get No pardon running ya mouth like that,” he wrote on Instagram. “LOL Get Out of here.”

Times staff writer Richard Winton and the Associated Press contributed to this report.

A federal jury on Thursday found hip-hop producer Metro Boomin not liable in his civil sexual assault case, after nearly a year of litigation. He is feeling more than relieved.

“I’m grateful and thankful to God that I can finally put all of this nonsense behind me,” the Grammy-nominated “Like That” musician said in a statement shared on Instagram after the verdict.

The jury sided with the 32-year-old artist, whose real name is Leland Tyler Wayne, after a brief trial that began Tuesday. He was cleared in all four actionable claims brought by Vanessa LeMaistre, who first raised her allegations in a lawsuit filed in Los Angeles in October 2024.

LeMaistre said in her initial lawsuit that she and Wayne struck up a connection in spring of 2016 amid their mutual grief: The musician had broken up with a longtime girlfriend and LeMaistre had lost a 9-month-old son “as a result of a rare and fatal disease,” according to court documents. LeMaistre alleged the assault occurred that September after he invited her to a recording studio to watch him work.

LeMaistre described the alleged incident as the “second worst thing that ever happened to her,” other than the death of her child. She also accused Wayne of impregnating her through rape and said she underwent an abortion.

The producer’s legal team quickly denied the allegations last October and dismissed the complaint as a “pure shakedown.” Attorney Lawrence C. Hinkle II echoed those sentiments Thursday in a statement shared after the verdict.

“We are extremely grateful for the jury’s careful consideration of the evidence and for reaching the correct decision,” Hinkle said. “The allegations against Mr. Wayne were frivolous and unequivocally false. Mr. Wayne has endured serious and damaging accusations, and today’s verdict confirms what he has always said — the plaintiff’s claims against him are completely fabricated.”

After Thursday’s verdict, LeMaistre attorney Michael J. Willemin said that although “the legal system is often stacked against survivors, our client showed unwavering fortitude throughout this trial.”

Willemin added: “We are disappointed in the outcome but are proud to represent Ms. LeMaistre and believe that the verdict will ultimately be overturned on appeal.”

Though the case — which was moved from L.A. County Superior Court to California Central District Court in December — ended in victory for Metro Boomin, he said in his statement it also resulted in a “a long list of losses.” He lamented the money and time “wasted” in the litigation process and said there had been an “incalculable amount of money and opportunities that did not make it to me or my team during this time.”

The Missouri-born artist also spoke about the case’s toll on his personal life, writing that “the trauma my family and I have endured during this dark period can never be forgiven.” He detailed adopting his youngest siblings and expressed concern over their possible online exposure to the case.

“I’m disappointed in not only the plaintiff but the janky lawyers who made the made the conscious decision to take on this suit, even though it was evident long ago that these claims had no legs or merit and would not end up going anywhere,” he said, later expressing gratitude for his own legal team.

Metro Boomin rose to prominence in the mid-2010s, working with rap stars including Young Thug, Future and Nicki Minaj. Over the years, he has also racked up collaborations with Drake, Kanye “Ye” West, Kendrick Lamar, SZA and Lil Wayne. Most recently, he reunited with Young Thug as a producer for Thug’s new album, “UY Scuti,” the rapper’s first since his release from Georgia’s Fulton County Jail last October.

With the case behind him for now, Metro Boomin concluded his statement by sending “peace and love to the actual victims out there as well as the innocent and accused.”

WASHINGTON — A watchdog investigation into former special counsel Jack Smith over his prosecutions of President Trump is based on an “imaginary and unfounded” premise, Smith’s lawyers wrote in a letter obtained by The Associated Press on Tuesday.

The letter marks the first response by Smith and his legal team to news that the Office of Special Counsel, an independent watchdog office, had launched an investigation into whether Smith engaged in improper political activity through his criminal inquiries into Trump.

The attorneys told Jamieson Greer, the acting head of the office, that his investigation into Smith was “wholly without merit.”

“Mr. Smith’s actions as Special Counsel were consistent with the decisions of a prosecutor who has devoted his career to following the facts and the law, without fear or favor and without regard for the political consequences, not because of them,” wrote Smith’s lawyers, Lanny Breuer and Peter Koski.

The Office of Special Counsel, which is totally distinct from the Justice Department special counsel position that Smith held for more than two years starting in November 2022, confirmed the investigation following a request from Republican Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas, who asked it to examine Smith’s activities for potential violations of the Hatch Act, a federal law that bans certain public officials from engaging in political activity.

Cotton had alleged that Smith sought to interfere in the 2024 presidential election through his prosecutions and sought to effectively fast-track the cases toward resolution, including by asking the Supreme Court to weigh in on a key legal question before a lower court had a chance to review the issue.

But Smith’s lawyers say that argument is contradicted by the facts and note that no court ruling or other authority prohibits prosecutors from investigating allegations of criminal conducts against candidates for office. Politics, they say, played no part in the decision to bring the cases.

“A review of the record and procedural history demonstrates the opposite — Mr. Smith was fiercely committed to making prosecutorial decisions based solely on the evidence, he steadfastly followed applicable Department of Justice guidelines and the Principles of Federal Prosecution, and he did not let the pending election influence his investigative or prosecutorial decision-making,” Smith’s lawyers wrote.

“The predicate for this investigation,” they added, “is imaginary and unfounded.”

Smith, who was appointed special counsel under the Biden administration, brought two cases against Trump, one accusing him of conspiring to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election and the other of hoarding classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. Both were brought in 2023, well over a year before the 2024 presidential election, and indictments in the two cases cited what Smith and his team described as clear violations of well-established federal law.

Both cases were abandoned by Smith after Trump’s November win, with the prosecutor citing longstanding Justice Department policy prohibiting the indictment of a sitting president.

Tucker writes for the Associated Press.

Alec Baldwin and additional “Rust” movie producers have agreed to settle a negligence lawsuit brought by three New Mexico crew members who witnessed the 2021 fatal shooting of the film’s cinematographer.

Crew members Ross Addiego, Doran Curtin and Reese Price filed the lawsuit in 2023, seeking compensation for the trauma they said they suffered after Baldwin accidentally shot Halyna Hutchins. The crew members were setting up their gear in a small wooden church on the movie set when the shooting occurred.

In the lawsuit, the crew members blamed the tragedy on “dangerous cost-cutting” and a “failure to follow industry safety rules.” The movie’s star, Baldwin, also served as a producer on the low-budget western.

The plaintiffs sued Baldwin, his El Dorado Pictures company and Rust Movie Productions LLC, alleging negligence and intentional infliction of emotional distress. In the suit, the crew members argued that Baldwin and other producers “cut corners, ignored reports of multiple, unscripted firearms discharges, and persisted, rushed and understaffed, to finish the film.”

Baldwin and fellow producers have long denied such allegations.

Last week, the two sides asked a New Mexico civil court judge to dismiss the case.

“All claims have been settled and compromised,” attorneys for both sides wrote in a joint June 25 motion.

Terms of the proposed settlement were not disclosed. Representatives for the two sides declined to comment.

“Each party has agreed to bear its own costs and fees,” the lawyers wrote.

The film was running behind schedule the day of the shooting after camera crew members had walked off the set. The camera technicians have said they were frustrated by inaction over their complaints of a lack of nearby housing, rushed conditions and safety violations, including accidental gun discharges.

The shooting claimed the life of Hutchins, 42. She died that day, leaving behind her husband, their son and her family in Ukraine. The producers previously settled a wrongful death lawsuit brought on behalf of her husband, Matthew Hutchins.

The film’s director, Joel Souza, suffered a gunshot wound. He, Addiego and other crew members testified that they struggled for months with the physical and emotional toll after the shooting.

Addiego was the film’s dolly operator, responsible for operating the mechanisms for camera movement. Curtin was the set costumer, overseeing costumes and accessories. Price was the key grip, who handled the nonelectric support gear.

New Mexico authorities brought three criminal prosecutions, including against Baldwin, who pointed the gun at Hutchins during a setup shot for a close-up of Baldwin’s prop revolver.

Baldwin pleaded not guilty to involuntary manslaughter and his high-profile trial ended abruptly last July after former New Mexico 1st Judicial District Court Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer dismissed the charge.

The judge found the special prosecutor and Santa Fe County sheriff’s deputies had concealed evidence from Baldwin’s legal team, which the judge said prejudiced the case against Baldwin.

At the time, the actor-producer’s team was exploring whether prosecutors and sheriff’s deputies botched the investigation into how the bullets made their way onto the desert set.

The weapons handler Hannah Gutierrez was convicted of involuntary manslaughter following a two-week trial last year. The Arizona woman was released from prison last month after serving 14 months.

Assistant director David Halls was also charged. He pleaded no contest to negligent use of a deadly weapon and received a suspended six-month sentence.

Baldwin and other producers resumed production of “Rust” in Montana 18 months after Hutchins’ shooting. The film was released this spring.

Mess with 50 Cent and he might come for your house — even if it takes him a few years to do it.

The rapper’s company Sire Spirits got the OK last week from a federal judge to seize the Connecticut home of former Sire executive Mitchell Green as partial payment toward a $7-million debt after a federal bankruptcy judge lifted an automatic stay that had prevented transfer of the property.

That took 50 Cent — real name Curtis Jackson III — and his legal team a little more than four years to accomplish, from when Green confessed to embezzling from his employer via a kickback scheme involving wholesalers until last week when the stay came off the house.

Branson Cognac and Chemin du Roi Champagne, both owned by Jackson, are managed through Sire Spirits. Green admitted in February 2020 that he had been raising prices and getting kickbacks from wholesalers that were labeled “agency fees,” the New York Post reported in 2022 and 2023.

Sire Spirits filed a request with the U.S. District Court, New York Southern, on Sept. 1, 2021, for confirmation of an arbitration agreement of a little less than $3.5 million in damages, according to court documents reviewed by The Times.

Green had been embezzling from 2018 into 2020, when someone attempted to blackmail him over the $2.2 million in kickbacks, according to AllHipHop. At that point, Green told his employer what he’d done. Sire Spirits fired him and went into arbitration, which was settled in Sire’s favor. With attorney fees and legal costs rolled in, the November 2022 final judgment totaled around $6.3 million.

In March 2023, the disgraced businessman filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection, which was still going on when Sire Spirits’ legal team secured a judgment lien against Green’s home in Westport, Conn., according to the court documents.

Green’s legal team had been providing court-ordered updates on the status of the property, always stating that Green was still in bankruptcy proceedings and therefore still had that automatic stay protecting his home. But last week, Sire’s attorneys asked the bankruptcy judge to get rid of the stay, saying that Green had no equity in the home due to the size of the judgment against him and therefore the property didn’t need to be part of his liquidation.

The judge agreed and lifted the stay.

The Connecticut home was appraised in late April at $1 million. That value will ultimately be credited against the judgment plus pre- and post-judgment interest, which now totals around $7 million.

Although Jackson has mentioned Branson Cognac recently on social media, he hasn’t said anything about the legal victory. In the last week, the rapper has been enjoying himself by poking fun at Sean “Diddy” Combs, a.k.a. “Puffy,” who is mired in a federal sex trafficking and conspiracy trial, where prosecution witnesses have been testifying.

“Cut, CUT … Wait a minute PUFFY’s got a gun, I can’t believe this I don’t feel safe … LOL,” Jackson wrote Tuesday on social media, posting screen shots of new testimony from Combs’ former assistant Capricorn Clark. Clark told the court that Combs said something about guns that she took as him making a threat against Jackson.

“Oh my goodness itty bitty Diddy wants me Dead,” the entrepreneur and provocateur said in a follow-up post. “I have to lay low, I think I’m gonna hide out at the playoff game tonight LOL.” He posted a comical picture of himself looking completely freaked out.

The New York Knicks and the Indiana Pacers should be tipping off right about now.