SANTE FE, N.M.: Alec Baldwin's involuntary manslaughter trial was thrown into jeopardy Friday after the actor's attorneys accused prosecutors of withholding key evidence and demanded the judge toss the case.
The move prompted Santa Fe Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer to send the jury home before it heard any new testimony Friday so she could hold an 11th hour hearing about the surprise request.
The defense team argued investigators and prosecutors concealed evidence related to the source of ammunition linked to the accidental shooting death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of the film "Rust" in 2021.
"This is critical evidence in the case that was never disclosed to us," said defense attorney Luke Nikas, who has repeatedly accused special prosecutor Kari Morrisey of hiding evidence. "This is not the first time. It's not the second time. It's not even the third time. It's time for this case to be dismissed."
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Armorer Hannah Gutierrez Reed was convicted of loading a live round into a revolver, which Baldwin fired, killing Hutchins and wounding director Joel Souza.
Investigators were never able to track down the source of the ammunition that wound up on set.
Baldwin's defense contends prosecutors withheld evidence that prop company owner Seth Kenney may have supplied the deadly rounds.
After Gutierrez Reed's conviction March 6, retired local police Officer Troy Teske walked into the Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office and delivered a collection of rounds to crime scene technician Marissa Poppell that he said came from Kenney and that he believed matched the bullet that killed Hutchins.
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He had previously told special prosecutor Kari Morrissey he suspected Kenney was the source of the live round that Gutierrez Reed loaded into the gun before the tragic accident.
Kenney and Gutierrez Reed's father, Thell Reed, also an armorer, had used the same batch of live rounds from a cowboy camp in Texas near the set of the film "1883."
During cross-examination Thursday, Poppell admitted she didn't inventory the evidence from Teske under the "Rust" case but instead under a different case number.
The rounds had "Starline brass casings, with nickel primers" like the bullet that killed Hutchins, defense lawyers argued. It was never sent to the FBI for testing.
A month after receiving the rounds, Poppell filed a supplemental report on the new evidence. That material was also never turned over to the defense.
Morrissey argued the live rounds are not a match and that defense lawyers were aggrandizing the issue.
"This is a wild goose chase," Morrissey said. "This has no evidentiary value whatsoever."
She added later, "This is the exact same batch of ammunition that has already been sent to the FBI and tested. Because it all came from the same place. There's no reason for us to do it again."
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Judge Sommers slipped on a pair of blue surgical gloves and personally inspected the rounds in court Friday.
"They're not even close," Morrissey told the judge.
"That's your opinion," Judge Sommers snapped back.
The unexpected turn came on the fourth day of Baldwin's involuntary manslaughter trial in Santa Fe District Court.
Prosecutors have argued that, under New Mexico law, the actor was responsible for the safety of his gun and should have known that Guterriez Reed, who was only 24 at the time, was inexperienced and incompetent.
Baldwin's attorneys assert he was told the gun was safe to use prior to the fatal shooting and that he didn't bear responsibility for checking it beforehand.
