- Alec Baldwin’s manslaughter case dismissed
- State withheld evidence, judge ruled
- Gutierrez-Reed faces 18 months for manslaughter
A US judge has rejected Hollywood actor Alec Baldwin’s involuntary manslaughter prosecution, ruling that the state concealed evidence on how live bullets wound up on a film set where a cinematographer was tragically shot.
The trial, which began three days ago, came to a dramatic end on Friday when Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer threw out the case based on police and prosecutor misconduct in withholding evidence from the defence during cinematographer Halyna Hutchins’ 2021 shooting on the set of the film Rust.
Marlowe Sommer stated in court in Santa Fe, New Mexico, that the late discovery of this information during the trial has hampered the effective use of evidence to the point where the fundamental fairness of the processes has been compromised.
If this conduct does not rise to the threshold of ill faith, it certainly comes close enough to exhibit symptoms of burning.
The judge stated that the case could not be filed again. Baldwin, 66, has been cleared of criminal charges following a nearly three-year drama that began when a handgun he was pointing at Hutchins during practice went off, killing her and injuring director Joel Souza.
The multiple Emmy Award-winning actor burst into tears and hugged his wife, Hilaria Baldwin, while other family members mourned in public.
Baldwin’s lawyer, Alex Spiro, told the court that the Santa Fe sheriff’s office got control of the live rounds as evidence in March but still needs to include them in the investigative file or inform defence lawyers about their existence.
“The real reason you didn’t inventory that evidence is because it could have jeopardised the law enforcement case,” Spiro told Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office Corporal Alexandria Hancock, the primary investigator.
District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies said their purpose was “to seek justice for Halyna Hutchins”.
We are unhappy that the case did not reach the jury.
Kari Morrissey, the leading state prosecutor, also stated that she did not “intend to mislead the court” after defending herself on the witness 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,” claimed the actress.
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Hutchins died in Hollywood’s first on-set shooting in nearly 30 years, when Baldwin was told to aim a handgun at her as she lined up a camera shot while filming southwest of Santa Fe. Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, the film’s armourer, accidentally inserted a.45 calibre cartridge into the weapon and fired.
Baldwin and other producers continue to face civil claims from Hutchins’ parents, sister, and other crew members.
Hutchins’ widower and young son settled their case roughly a year after the filming, with the widower becoming an executive producer on the incomplete film.
Prosecutors obtained one conviction in Hutchins’ death, with Gutierrez-Reed sentenced to 18 months in jail for involuntary manslaughter.
Gutierrez-Reed and her lawyer, Jason Bowles, have stated that they will file a motion to dismiss the case based on Baldwin’s verdict.
