Prosecution Folds in Baldwin Case

The prosecutors sudden and complete capitulation shows not just that the case against Baldwin was weak. It confirms that there was all along either gross prosecutorial incompetence or ethical breach, more likely the breach, as  I suggested in my 1/30 post and was far from alone in so suggesting. 

The Prosecution’s Grudging Concession in the Baldwin Case

The Santa Fe District Attorney and the special prosecutor chose not to submit papers in opposition to the defense motion to dismiss their firearm enhancement claim with its five year mandatory sentence. The enhancement was obviously and fatally erroneous. The enhancement for a “discharged” firearm was enacted after the incident and so its enforcement would be ex post facto. The firearm enhancement that was in place at the time is for “brandishing” the firearm, which requires an intent to intimidate or injure. Clearly neither Baldwin nor the armorer, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, who is charged with the same offenses as Baldwin and for whom the enhancement was also dropped, had any such intent.