In a stunning turn of events, the judge in Alec Baldwin’s involuntary manslaughter trial dismissed the case Friday, siding with defense attorneys who argued that prosecutors hid evidence about ammunition that may be linked to the fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of the Western movie “Rust” in 2021. “The sanction of dismissal is the only warranted remedy” in the case, said First Judicial District Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer. Baldwin, 66, sobbed and put his face in his hands as Sommer announced her decision.
Baldwin could have been sentenced to up to 18 months in prison if the jurors had unanimously agreed he committed the felony. The actor was rehearsing a scene at the Bonanza Creek Ranch in Santa Fe County on Oct. 21, 2021, when the prop revolver he was holding went off, killing Hutchins, 42, and wounding director Joel Souza.
The 66-year-old actor had pleaded not guilty. He claims that he was not aware the revolver contained a live round and that it discharged accidentally after he followed instructions to point it toward Hutchins. Baldwin’s lawyers asserted that the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office took possession of live rounds of ammunition as evidence but did not record them in the official case file or reveal their existence to the actor’s defense team.
Marissa Poppell, a sheriff’s office crime scene technician who testified this week, claimed the rounds were not hidden from Baldwin’s lawyers and pushed back on Baldwin lawyer.
