The facts
Alexander R. Baldwin III was criminally prosecuted after he “accidental[ly]” shot and killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins during the Rust film production. The pistol fired on set was loaded with live rounds instead of “dummy” rounds.
Andrea Reeb served as the special prosecutor on Baldwin’s case. She took office as a New Mexico State Legislator on January 1, 2023, while still serving as special prosecutor. Baldwin argued the dual role violated Article III, Section 1 of the New Mexico Constitution.
The court agreed, finding that “Defendant Reeb violated Article III, Section I when she simultaneously exercised the sovereign power of two distinct branches of New Mexico state government by holding two public offices.” It emphasized that a special prosecutor “step[s] into the shoes” of the district attorney with “the same power and authority”, including “determination about whom and whether to prosecute.”
But Reeb faces no liability. The court held she had a “colorable claim of authority” and is “entitled to prosecutorial immunity for her prosecutorial acts after assuming office”, noting the violation “was effectively resolved by her withdrawal”.
Our take
So let’s get this straight. Andrea Reeb, the special prosecutor trying to put Alec Baldwin in prison for a fucking on-set shooting, was herself breaking the goddamn law the entire time. She was a New Mexico state legislator and a prosecutor simultaneously, a neat little two-branch power grab the state constitution explicitly forbids. The court, with the spine of a fucking jellyfish, looked at this blatant violation and said, 'Yep, that’s illegal.' Then it handed her a lube-soaked immunity pass and sent her on her way. What a colossal fucking joke. The only thing more shameless than Reeb’s double-dipping is the court’s cowardly refusal to do a single thing about it. She gets to walk away from her own constitutional violation because she had a 'colorable claim of authority' - a fancy legal term for 'a plausible-sounding excuse.' She spent her days deciding who gets prosecuted while her own ass was constitutionally exposed. The ruling is a masterpiece of bureaucratic bullshit: a sternly worded 'you fucked up' followed immediately by a gentle 'but we’ll protect you from any fallout.' This is the justice system admitting, in official paperwork, that its own enforcers are above the very rules they wield against everyone else. It’s a closed loop of unaccountable cunts congratulating each other on their impeccable legal reasoning while spitting in the face of the concept they’re paid to uphold. The message is clear: if you’re powerful enough within the machine, you can violate its foundational principles and suffer precisely fuck-all. The court didn’t resolve the violation; it just noted it and then vacuum-sealed the violator in a protective bubble of immunity. Accountability is for the little people, the actors holding prop guns, not for the pricks holding the gavels and the law books they can’t be arsed to follow themselves. What a pathetic, self-serving circle jerk. The only thing this ruling prosecutes is the notion that the law applies equally. Case fucking closed.
