The judge in actor Alec Baldwin’s New Mexico trial on a charge of involuntary manslaughter dismissed the case Friday after the defense team accused prosecutors of withholding evidence.
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 2021 shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of the film “Rust.”
Prior to the dismissal, the case took a bizarre turn when prosecutor Erlinda Johnson resigned and fellow prosecutor Kari Morrissey called herself as a witness. Earlier in the day, the judge had sent the jury home as attorneys argued over the defense’s motion for dismissal, including questioning a witness who had already testified in the case.
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Baldwin cried, hugged his two attorneys, gestured to the front of the court, then turned to hug his crying wife Hilaria, holding the embrace for 12 seconds. He climbed into an SUV outside the Santa Fe courthouse without speaking to media.
Baldwin, 66, could have gotten 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.”
Sommer put a pause on the trial earlier Friday while she considered the defense motion to dismiss the case over the evidence.
The defense argued that prosecutors hid evidence from them about the ammunition that may be related to the shooting on the set of the Western “Rust” in 2021. The defense said they should have had the ability to determine its importance.
The prosecution said that the ammunition was not connected to the case and was not 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 lawyer 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.