Alec Baldwin sobbed as a New Mexico judge dropped the involuntary manslaughter charges related to the fatal shooting on the Rust film set. The trial ended three days after it began in Santa Fe, close to the location where cinematographer Halyna Hutchins was killed when Baldwin discharged a revolver during rehearsals.
This marks the second time the case against Baldwin has been dismissed since the October 2021 incident, and he will not face trial again. The father of eight hugged his wife, Hilaria Baldwin, who was also in tears, before getting into an SUV without addressing the media. Hutchins' widow is now demanding justice after the high-profile case was dismissed.
Relief for Baldwin
After a full day of hearings without the jury present, Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer declared that "the sanction of dismissal is the only warranted remedy" and decided that the charges could not be refiled.
"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," Marlowe Sommer said.
The surprising ruling came on the third day of Baldwin's trial for involuntary manslaughter. Baldwin, who is currently filming a reality TV show about his family, had faced a maximum sentence of 18 months in prison for the death of Halyna Hutchins, the film's cinematographer.
On Friday, the judge dismissed the jury early after lawyers for the "30 Rock" star filed a motion to dismiss the case, alleging that live ammunition related to Hutchins' 2021 shooting had been "concealed" from them.
"The state is highly culpable for its failure to provide this evidence to the defendant," Marlowe Sommer said.
"The state's willful withholding of this information was intentional and deliberate. If this conduct does not rise to the level of bad faith it certainly does come so near to bad faith as to show signs of scorching prejudice."
This allegation led to a lengthy hearing during which Judge Sommer heard testimony from multiple witnesses, including prosecutor Kari Morrissey, who testified that the ammunition was not connected to the case and had not been hidden.
Justice Compromised
"Rust" armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, already convicted on involuntary manslaughter charges in a separate trial, was set to testify on Friday before the judge halted the proceedings.
Earlier, the court heard from Marissa Poppell, a sheriff's crime scene technician, who was questioned intensely by Baldwin's attorneys over what they claimed was a substandard search for the live ammunition that killed Halyna Hutchins.
Defense attorney Alex Spiro argued that a mysterious "good Samaritan" brought bullets, allegedly the ones that killed Hutchins, to the sheriff's department after Gutierrez-Reed had already received an 18-month prison sentence.
Spiro claimed that investigators had "buried" this evidence and failed to share it with the defense in either Baldwin's or Gutierrez-Reed's case.
Prosecutors countered that the good Samaritan was a friend of Gutierrez-Reed's father and that the ammunition did not match the live rounds found on the "Rust" set.
Spiro also suggested that law enforcement expedited their investigation to focus on Baldwin, noting that some investigators formed a close relationship with the film's weapons supplier after the incident.
According to Spiro, it took just one day to search the church where the shooting occurred, but a week to obtain a search warrant for the supplier's prop truck. No live rounds were found in the truck, though other bullets were found throughout the set. The supplier, not accused of any wrongdoing, opened the safe and allowed detectives to search the truck.
Baldwin faced accusations of recklessly disregarding gun safety when he fired a real gun loaded with a live round, resulting in Hutchins' death and director Joel Souza's injury in October 2021.
The "Saturday Night Live" alum has consistently claimed his innocence, stating he cocked the hammer but did not pull the trigger.
Gutierrez-Reed is appealing her conviction, and legal experts suggest the surprising ruling in Baldwin's case might affect hers.
Matthew Hutchins, Halyna's widower, filed a wrongful death suit, which was settled last year. Following the settlement, production of "Rust" resumed with Matthew Hutchins named as the executive producer. The Western completed filming in May 2023.
