SANTA FE, N.M. — A New Mexico judge on Friday brought a sudden and stunning end to the involuntary manslaughter case against Alec Baldwin, dismissing it in the middle of the actor's trial and saying it cannot be filed again.
Actor Alec Baldwin reacts after the judge threw out the involuntary manslaughter case for the 2021 fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins during filming of the Western movie "Rust," Friday, July 12, 2024, at Santa Fe County District Court in Santa Fe, N.M. Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer dismissed the case with prejudice based on the misconduct of police and prosecutors over the withholding of evidence from the defense in the shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of the film “Rust.
” Baldwin cried, hugged his two attorneys, gestured to the front of the court, then turned to hug his crying wife Hilaria, holding the embrace for 12 seconds. 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 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.” Actor Alec Baldwin reacts after the judge threw out the involuntary manslaughter case for the 2021 fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins during filming of the Western movie "Rust," Friday, July 12, 2024, at Santa Fe County District Court in Santa Fe, N.
M. From left, Alex Spiro and Heather LeBlanc, attorneys for actor Alec Baldwin, look over paperwork during Baldwin's trial for involuntary manslaughter for the 2021 fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins during filming of the Western movie "Rust," Friday, July 12, 2024, at Santa Fe County District Court in Santa Fe, N.M.
Sommer put a pause on the trial earlier Friday while she considered the defense motion to dismiss the case over the evidence. The defense argued that prosecutors hid evidence from them about the ammunition that may be related to the shooting on the set of the Western “Rust” in 2021. The defense said they should have had the ability to determine its importance.
The prosecution said that the ammunition was not connected to the case and was not hidden. Hilaria Baldwin, left, wife of actor Alec Baldwin, and his sister Elizabeth Keuchler react during Alec Baldwin's trial for involuntary manslaughter for the 2021 fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins during filming of the Western movie "Rust," Friday, July 12, 2024, at Santa Fe County District Court in Santa Fe, N.M.
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, for her role in Hutchins’ death. She was sentenced to 18 months in prison on an involuntary manslaughter conviction, which she is now appealing.
This is a breaking new s story and will be updated. Actor Alec Baldwin, left, embraces his brother, actor Stephen Baldwin, during a break July 10 in his involuntary manslaughter trial over a fatal shooting on the set of the film, "Rust," in District Court, in Santa Fe, N.M.
Baldwin, 66, emerged as a major movie star in the late 1980s and early ‘90s through films like “Beetlejuice” and “The Hunt for Red October,” and has remained a household name ever since . He would move on to memorable supporting roles in films including 2003’s “The Cooler,” which got him an Oscar nomination. Comedy dominated his later career as he won two Emmys for playing network executive Jack Donaghy on six seasons of “30 Rock,” and won a third for playing Donald Trump on “Saturday Night Live.
” He has also played the role of outsized public personality, as a cherished talk-show guest, a sought-after liberal, and at times as a man unable to control his outbursts of anger, which have brought public embarrassment and a previous run-in with the law much more minor than the current one. Baldwin is the eldest of six children — five of them actors — from Massapequa, New York, who has lived in New York City for most of his adult life. He has an adult daughter, Ireland Baldwin, with his first wife Kim Basinger, and seven small children with his second wife, Hilaria Baldwin.
Attorney Gloria Allred holds a picture of Halyna Hutchins on July 10 outside a District Court in which Alec Baldwin is facing involuntary manslaughter charge for her fatal shooting on the set of 'Rust' in Santa Fe, N.M. Hutchins, who was 42 when she died, was a cinematographer on the rise and a mother of a young son when she was killed.
She grew up on a remote Soviet military base and worked on documentary films in Eastern Europe before studying film in Los Angeles and embarking on a promising movie-making career . Actor Alec Baldwin, left, sits with his lawyer Luke Nikas, July 8 in District Court in Santa Fe, N.M.
Baldwin will bring with him an elite legal team of mostly New York-based attorneys, many of them Harvard Law graduates, from the firm of Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan. Alex Spiro, a 41-year-old defense attorney who has represented Elon Musk, Megan Thee Stallion and other prominent figures and has become among the most sought-after lawyers in the country, will give aggressive cross-examination to the state's witnesses. The defense will try to show that it is not the job of an actor to make sure real rounds are not in his gun, a position strongly supported by Baldwin’s union, the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists.
Baldwin said in an interview with ABC News, and implied in interviews with authorities, that he never pulled the revolver's trigger . His lawyers will also attack the gun evidence , and the serious damage done to the revolver during an FBI test they say amounted to the destruction of evidence and left the defense no chance to examine it. Alec Baldwin wipes his eyes July 8 during a hearing in his involuntary manslaughter trial over a fatal shooting on the set of the film, "Rust," in Santa Fe, N.
M. Prosecutors have two alternative standards for proving the charge. One is based on the negligent use of a firearm.
The other is proving beyond a reasonable doubt that Baldwin acted with total disregard or indifference for the safety of others. Despite the legal and technical complexities of the case, the 12 citizens of Santa Fe County that will make up the jury will have to reach just one verdict — guilty or not guilty — on a single count. Actor Alec Baldwin listens during a hearing July 10 in his involuntary manslaughter trial over a fatal shooting on the set of the film, "Rust," in District Court in Santa Fe, N.
M. Alec Baldwin speaks with investigators following a fatal shooting Oct. 21, 2021, on the movie set "Rust" in Santa Fe, N.
M. Santa Fe, New Mexico's capital, an arts mecca of 89,000 people and a tourist destination for its historic Southwestern beauty, is no small town. And its downtown modern legal complex is hardly a country courthouse.
But the location is still a far cry from the coastal urban courts where the celebrity trials of Bill Cosby, O.J. Simpson, Harvey Weinstein and Donald Trump were held.
Actor Alec Baldwin arrives July 10 at District Court for jury selection in his involuntary manslaughter trial, in Santa Fe, N.M. A video scene from the film, "Rust" showing actor Alec Baldwin is viewed July 10 during a hearing in his involuntary manslaughter trial, in District Court in Santa Fe, N.
M. Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer listens July 8 during a preliminary hearing in Alec Baldwin's involuntary manslaughter trial over a fatal shooting on the set of the film, "Rust," in Santa Fe, N.M.
Actor Stephen Baldwin and Hilaria Baldwin, wife of Alec Baldwin, listen July 10 during actor Alec Baldwin's involuntary manslaughter trial over a fatal shooting on the set of the film, "Rust," in District Court, in Santa Fe, N.M. Actor Alec Baldwin stands July 10 during a break in his involuntary manslaughter trial over a fatal shooting on the set of the film, "Rust," in District Court, in Santa Fe, N.
M. Actor Alec Baldwin talks July 10 with his wife Hilaria Baldwin during his involuntary manslaughter trial over a fatal shooting on the set of the film, "Rust," in District Court in Santa Fe, N.M.
A musician plays a violin behind a photograph of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins during a vigil in her honor in Albuquerque, N.M., Oct.
23, 2021. This aerial photo shows the movie set of "Rust" at Bonanza Creek Ranch in Santa Fe, N.M.
, Oct. 23, 2021. The crew members inside the small church building who became eyewitnesses to Hutchins' killing will provide the trial's most essential testimony.
They include director Joel Souza, who was himself shot and wounded by the bullet from Baldwin's gun, and assistant director David Halls, who some said was responsible for the shooting but pleaded no contest to negligent handling of a firearm. Prosecutors convinced a judge just before trial to exclude a summary of a workplace safety report that puts much of the blame for the shooting on Halls. Zac Sneesby , a crew member who was holding a boom microphone during the rehearsal, will testify that he saw Baldwin pull the trigger of the revolver, prosecutors said in court filings, making him potentially the most important witness of all.
Prosecutors also may call Gutierrez-Reed to the stand, but Marlowe Sommer rejected an immunity deal they wanted to give her. Actor Stephen Baldwin and his sister Elizabeth Keuchler exit the courtroom July 10 after their brother Alec Baldwin's hearing in District Court, in Santa Fe, N.M.
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