![Prosecutor Erlinda Ocampo Johnson speaks during actor Alec Baldwin's hearing in Santa Fe County District Court, July 10, 2024, in Santa Fe, New Mexico. In October 2021, on the New Mexico set of the Western movie "Rust," a gun pointed by Baldwin discharged a live round, killing the film's cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and wounding its director.](https://cdn.statically.io/img/deadline.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/GettyImages-2160823426.jpg?w=681&h=383&crop=1)
Prosecutor Erlinda Ocampo Johnson, who stepped down just before the charges against actor Alec Baldwin were thrown out, claims in an interview Baldwin engaged in “horseplay” with the gun that killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.
The alleged horseplay saw Baldwin using another person as a target for blanks, according to Johnson, who told NewsNation, “You don’t do that with real guns.”
Johnson said she resigned because she felt morally obligated to provide the new evidence she uncovered.
“I left because I learned about this evidence when the public learned about it yesterday, late afternoon.”
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The evidence was withheld from the defense, according to the judge. It included ammo taken from the scene.
“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.”
She emphasizes her ethical and moral obligations as a prosecutor, which include ensuring all evidence is presented.
Discovering the withheld evidence, Johnson felt compelled to withdraw before the court hearing.
‘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 said.
“We don’t get to decide what the defense is going to be. Our job is to ensure transparency, and to ensure that the defendant has everything that the prosecution has gathered. What they do with it, that’s up to them.”
She added, “Did I believe that there was some inappropriate behavior with regard to handling this gun? I do.”
The verdict ends a nearly three-year legal case after the fatal shooting on the set of the movie Rust in October 2021.