Actor Alec Baldwin broke down in a New Mexico court, after a judge dismissed his involuntary manslaughter charge for the fatal shooting of a cinematographer on the set of Rust. This is the case’s second dismissal, and it cannot be filed again.
The fatal shooting of Halyna Hutchins on the set of Rust occurred in October 2021, when Baldwin fired a live round from a revolver he was using in rehearsals at Hutchins. Now, almost three years after the tragedy, Baldwin’s charges have been dropped.
The case was dismissed by Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer after three days of proceedings when new evidence was provided to the court on Friday.
In response to hearing Baldwin’s lawyers allege evidence had been withheld by the prosecution, Sommer concluded that the trial could not proceed.
“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,” Sommer said.
The evidence in question regarded the exact rounds of ammunition that killed Hutchins, which the Santa Fe sheriff’s office took possession of during their investigation of the shooting.
A main factor of the trial has been on finding the source of the live rounds, and how they ended up in Alec Baldwin’s revolver without him knowing it.
However, Baldwin’s lawyers said the police and prosecution team failed to list this evidence in the case file or provide it to the defence.
This lack of sharing evidence impacts the fairness of the trial, as it means Baldwin’s team was disadvantaged because they were unaware of the evidence existing. Sommer ruled that the evidence being withheld from the defence was unfair, and “intentional”.
“The state’s wilful withholding of this information was intentional and deliberate,” said the judge.
“There is no way for the court to right this wrong.”
Baldwin’s case was dismissed, and the actor cried while he hugged his lawyers and wife Hilaria. He did not make any statement to the press outside the courthouse.
Other members of the Rust crew involved in the fatal accident have been punished, including armourer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, who was found guilty of manslaughter for her negligence to guna safety on set. Assistant director David Halls also pleaded guilty to the charge of negligent use of a deadly weapon and received six months unsupervised probation.
[Image: AP]
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