Alec Baldwin has sued New Mexico prosecutors and sheriff's office officials alleging a "malicious" prosecution against him over the 2021 fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of the film Rust.
The lawsuit filed in a Santa Fe court follows the dismissal of Mr Baldwin's case during his manslaughter trial in the New Mexico capital.
A judge ruled the special prosecutor and sheriff's office deliberately withheld evidence from Mr Baldwin on the source of the live round that killed Ms Hutchins.
Mr Baldwin's action against prosecutor Kari Morrissey, Santa FeCounty Sheriff's Office Corporal Alexandria Hancock and others among at least a dozen civil lawsuits filed over Ms Hutchins' death which shocked Hollywood and sparked calls for an overhaul of firearms safety on movie sets.
Mr Baldwin’s lawyers Luke Nikas and Heather LeBlanc demanded a jury trial to seek damages for malicious abuse of process, intentional spoliation of evidence and defamation, among other complaints.
Ms Morrissey said prosecutors had long known Mr Baldwin planned to file a retaliatory civil lawsuit.
"We look forward to our day in court," she said in a text message.
The Ukrainian-born cinematographer died when Mr Baldwin pointed his pistol at her, cocked it and possibly pulled the trigger as they set up a camera shot on a movie set near Santa Fe, according to his lawyers.
The gun, a reproduction 1873 Single Action Army revolver, fired a live round inadvertently loaded by Hannah Gutierrez, the film's weapons handler.
Ms Gutierrez was convicted of involuntary manslaughter in March and sentenced to 18 months imprisonment.
Mr Baldwin's lawsuit focuses on the decision by Ms Morrissey, Ms Hancock, sheriff’s office crime scene technician Marissa Poppel and her supervisor Brian Brandle to file evidence on the source of live rounds under a different case number to the Rust case.
The incident came to light on the second day of Mr Baldwin’s July trial.
A day later, Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer tossed the case on grounds the officials’ "willful withholding of this information" from Mr Baldwin came "so near to bad faith as to show signs of scorching prejudice."
Other individuals named in the lawsuit include the first two special prosecutors on the case, New Mexico State Representative Andrea Reeb and New Mexico First Judicial District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies.
"Defendants must now be held accountable for their malicious and unlawful pursuit of Baldwin," the actor's lawyers wrote in the filing.
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