A judge in New Mexico has dismissed Alec Baldwin's involuntary manslaughter case in relation to a fatal 2021 shooting on the set of his film Rust.
The decision was made after the judge found that the state had withheld evidence that could have helped explain why live rounds of ammunition were on a film set. It was dismissed with prejudice, meaning the case is permanently dismissed and cannot be brought to court ever again.
"There is no way for the court to right this wrong," Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer declared, per The New York Times.
Baldwin was charged with involuntary manslaughter over the accidental death of Rust cinematographer Halyna Hutchins in October 2021. Hutchins was killed when a live round made its way into a prop firearm Baldwin was holding, which accidentally discharged before passing through Hutchins and hitting the film’s director, Joel Souza.
In March, the film’s armorer, Hannah Gutierrez Reed, was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter and sentenced to 18 months in prison.
Baldwin was originally charged with involuntary manslaughter on January 19, 2023, before that charge was dropped as prosecutors required more time to examine evidence. The 30 Rock star was charged for a second time exactly a year later, on January 19, 2024, after investigators discovered that the gun’s trigger had to have been pulled for the round to discharge.
Baldwin maintains that he never pulled the trigger, but rather cocked the firearm’s hammer before the gun unexpectedly fired. His attorneys argued that the firearm did not function properly in the first place, and that it was damaged by the FBI during testing amid the investigative process rendering any further examination moot.
