The judge in actor Alec Baldwin's New Mexico trial on a charge of involuntary manslaughter dismissed the case Friday after the defense team accused prosecutors of withholding evidence.
Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer dismissed the case with prejudice based on the misconduct of police and prosecutors in the trial over the 2021 shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of the film "Rust."
Prior to the dismissal, the case took a bizarre turn when prosecutor Erlinda Johnson resigned and fellow prosecutor Kari Morrissey called herself as a witness. Earlier in the day, the judge had sent the jury home as attorneys argued over the defense's motion for dismissal, including questioning a witness who had already testified in the case.
Baldwin cried, hugged his two attorneys, gestured to the front of the court, then turned to embrace his wife Hilaria, who was also crying. He climbed into an SUV outside the Santa Fe courthouse without speaking to media.
Baldwin, 66, could have gotten 18 months in prison if convicted.
The defense argued that prosecutors hid evidence from them about ammunition that may be related to the shooting. The evidence was not put into the same file as the rest of the "Rust" case, and was not presented to Baldwin's defense team when they examined the ballistics evidence in April.
The defense said they should have had the ability to determine its importance.
The issue emerged Thursday, on the second day of the actor's trial, during defense questioning of sheriff's crime scene technician Marissa Poppell. Baldwin lawyer Alex Spiro asked whether a "good Samaritan" had come into the sheriff's office with the ammunition earlier this year after the trial of Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, the film's armorer. Gutierrez-Reed was sentenced to 18 months in prison on an involuntary manslaughter conviction, which she is now appealing.
The prosecution said that the ammunition was not connected to the case and was not hidden. But the judge sided with the defense.
"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. "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."
It has never been officially determined who brought the live rounds onto the set that killed Hutchins. Prosecutors at the previous trial of Gutierrez-Reed alleged that she was responsible.
Baldwin said in an interview with ABC News that he never pulled the trigger of the gun he was holding in Hutchins' direction as they rehearsed a scene.
Baldwin and other producers of the film still face civil lawsuits from Hutchins' parents and sister.
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