In short:
A New Mexico judge has dismissed the involuntary manslaughter charges levelled against Alec Baldwin over the shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins in 2021.
Ms Hutchins was killed on the set of Rust in 2021 after a prop gun which Baldwin was using discharged, firing a live round.
What’s next?
The charges were dismissed with prejudice, meaning they cannot be filed again.
A New Mexico judge has dismissed involuntary manslaughter charges against Alec Baldwin over the shooting of Rust cinematographer Halyna Hutchins in 2021, saying they cannot be filed again.
Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer made the ruling three days after Baldwin’s trial began in New Mexico and shortly after putting the trial on pause on Friday over allegations that police and prosecutors hid evidence.
On October 21, 2021, a reproduction single action Army revolver, which the actor was using to set up a camera shot on the movie Rust, fired a live round that killed Ms Hutchins and injured director Joel Souza.
Despite Baldwin’s repeated assertions that the gun “went off” on its own, an FBI test of the revolver found it “functioned normally” and the actor was charged with involuntary manslaughter in January last year.
The charge was dropped in April, but the actor was charged once again in January this year and indicted by a Santa Fe jury.
His trial began on July 10 and ended abruptly when Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer ruled to dismiss the charge with prejudice.
“The state’s withholding of the evidence was wilful and deliberate,” Judge Sommer said in delivering her decision.
“Dismissal with prejudice is warranted to ensure the integrity of the judicial system and the efficient administration of justice.”
Following the ruling, Baldwin hugged his two attorneys and his wife Hilaria. His sister Elizabeth Keuchler was left in tears.
The actor left the courthouse without speaking to reporters.
Charge dismissed on allegation police hid evidence
Baldwin’s lawyers alleged the Santa Fe sheriff’s office took possession of live rounds as evidence in the case but failed to list them in the Rust investigation file or disclose their existence to defence lawyers.
The issue emerged on Thursday — on the second day of the actor’s trial — when Baldwin’s lawyers used testimony from crime scene technician Marissa Popell to argue police hid evidence of the source of the live round that killed Ms Hutchins.
Baldwin’s lawyer Alex Spiro asked Ms Poppell whether a “good Samaritan” had come into the sheriff’s office with the ammunition earlier this year after Rust armourer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed was put on trial for her role in Ms Hutchins’s death.
Ms Gutierrez-Reed was sentenced to 18 months in prison on an involuntary manslaughter conviction, which she is now appealing against.
“The late discovery of this evidence during trial has impeded the effective use of evidence in such a way that it has impacted the fundamental fairness of the proceedings,” the judge said.
“If this conduct does not rise to the level of bad faith it certainly comes so near to bad faith to show signs of scorching.”
The Colt .45 rounds at the centre of the dismissal were handed into the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office by Troy Teske on March 6, the same day Ms Gutierrez was convicted of involuntary manslaughter for Ms Hutchins’s death.
Mr Teske is a friend of Thell Reed, the stepfather of Ms Gutierrez.
Ms Poppel testified on Friday that the rounds were not hidden from Baldwin and she was told to file them and details on how they were obtained under a different case number to the Rust case.
She disputed defence lawyer Alex Spiro’s assertion the Colt .45 ammunition matched the round that killed Ms Hutchins.
Baldwin’s lawyers also alleged the rounds were evidence that the bullet that killed Ms Hutchins came from Seth Kenney, the movie’s prop supplier.
Mr Kenney has denied supplying live ammunition to the production and has not been charged in the case. He had been expected to testify against Baldwin.
Prosecutor Kari Morrissey had questioned the allegation the evidence was concealed from Baldwin.
“I did not intend to mislead the court,” she told the court after calling herself to the stand.
“My understanding of what was dropped off at the sheriff’s office is on this computer screen and it looks absolutely nothing like the live rounds from the set of Rust.”
“If you buried it, how did the defence attorneys know to cross-examine you about it yesterday?” she added.
Mr Spiro questioned Ms Morrissey about her attitude toward his client, saying witnesses had reported she had characterised him with expletives and said she would teach him a lesson.
“I never said to witnesses that I would teach him a lesson,” Ms Morrissey said.
Prosecutors accused Ms Gutierrez of bringing the live rounds onto the set, an allegation she denied.
Prosecutors allege Baldwin played a role in the death of Ms Hutchins because he handled the gun irresponsibly.
His lawyers say Baldwin was failed by Ms Gutierrez and others responsible for safety on the set, and that law enforcement agents were more interested in prosecuting their client than finding the source of a live round that killed Ms Hutchins.
State prosecutor Erlinda Johnson resigned from the case earlier on Friday.
Reuters/AP
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