Alec Baldwin listens during his involuntary manslaughter trial for the 2021 fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins during filming of the Western movie "Rust," in Santa Fe, N.M., Friday, July 12, 2024.
SANTA FE, N.M. — A New Mexico judge on Friday threw out the involuntary manslaughter case against Alec Baldwin in the middle of his trial and said it cannot be filed again.
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 and embraced his attorneys after the decision was announced. This is a breaking news story and will be updated.
Actor Alec Baldwin, left, and attorney Luke Nikas listen during a hearing July 10 in Baldwin's involuntary manslaughter trial over a fatal shooting on the set of the film, "Rust," in District Court, in Santa Fe, N.M. The trial at the First Judicial District Court of New Mexico — about 20 miles northeast of the movie set and the shooting — is projected to last nine days, and Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer insists that she’ll keep the lawyers in line and on schedule.
Jury selection begins Tuesday, with opening statements expected Wednesday, and the projected end the following Friday. Once the jurors get the case, however, they can deliberate as long as needed. 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 .
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.
Special prosecutor Erlinda Ocampo Johnson shows a bullet in an evidence bag July 10 during actor Alec Baldwin's involuntary manslaughter hearing, in District Court, in Santa Fe, N.M. Santa Fe County District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies appointed Kari Morrissey as a special prosecutor in the Baldwin case in early 2023 after her predecessor stepped down because of conflicts of interest.
Morrissey promptly had the indictment against Baldwin dismissed, but revived it in January of this year by grand jury. Both moves came from further examination of the evidence, she said. Morrissey graduated from the University of New Mexico and its law school, and practiced law in Albuquerque for more than 20 years.
Johnson joined Morrissey's team in April. The trial could bring a culture clash between the team of attorneys, as fiery hearings and filings have already shown. Morrissey and Spiro in particular have butted heads often — “I’m not going to sit here and be called a liar!" — she said during one such moment at a May hearing — and will likely do the same and provide some drama during the proceedings.
The prosecutors will try to convince jurors that Baldwin he was negligent in handling his gun. 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 listens July 10 during a hearing in his involuntary manslaughter trial over a fatal shooting on the set of the film, "Rust," in District Court, in Santa Fe, N.M. Special prosecutor Kari Morrissey listens July 8 during Alec Baldwin's pretrial hearing in his involuntary manslaughter trial over a fatal shooting on the set of the film, "Rust," 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.
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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