SANTA FE, New Mexico — A New Mexico judge brought a sudden, stunning end Friday to the involuntary manslaughter case against Alec Baldwin, dismissing it in the middle of the actor's trial.
Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer dismissed the case with prejudice - meaning it cannot be filed again - based on the misconduct of police and prosecutors. She said evidence in the shooting in 2021 of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of the film “Rust” had been withheld from the defense
Baldwin cried, hugged his two attorneys, gestured to the front of the court, then turned to hug his crying wife, Hilaria. He climbed into an SUV outside the Santa Fe courthouse without speaking to reporters.
Baldwin, 66, could have been sentenced to 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.”
Marlowe Sommer had paused the trial earlier Friday while she considered the defense motion to dismiss the case over the withheld evidence.
The defense argued that prosecutors had hidden evidence about ammunition that might have been related to the shooting. Defense attorneys said they should have had the ability to determine the importance of the evidence.
The prosecution said that the ammunition was not connected to the case and had not been hidden.
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 attorney 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.
Baldwin’s legal team said the Santa Fe sheriff's office took possession of the live rounds as evidence in the case but failed to list them in the "Rust" investigation file or disclose their existence to defense attorneys.
They also alleged the rounds were evidence that the bullet that killed Hutchins came from Seth Kenney, the movie's prop supplier. Kenney has denied supplying live ammunition to the production and has not been charged in the case.
"The state's withholding of the evidence was willful and deliberate," Marlowe Sommer said in delivering her decision. "Dismissal with prejudice is warranted to ensure the integrity of the judicial system and the efficient administration of justice."
Erlinda Johnson, one of the state prosecutors, had resigned from the case earlier Friday.
