A US judge has dismissed involuntary manslaughter charges against Alec Baldwin after his lawyers alleged police hid evidence of the source of the live round that killed Rust cinematographer Halyna Hutchins in 2021.
Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer made the ruling three days after Baldwin’s trial began in New Mexico, after hearing evidence on the defence request.
The actor’s lawyers said the Santa Fe sheriff’s office took possession of live rounds as evidence in the case but failed to list them in the Rust investigation file or disclose their existence to defence lawyers.
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They also alleged the rounds were evidence 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. He had been expected to testify against Baldwin.
The Colt .45 rounds at the centre of the dismissal were handed into the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office on March 6 by Troy Teske, a friend of Thell Reed, the stepfather of Rust armourer Hannah Gutierrez, on the same day Gutierrez was convicted of involuntary manslaughter for Hutchins’ death.
A Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office technician, Marissa Poppel, testifed before the judge on Friday that the rounds were not hidden from Baldwin and she was told to file them, and details on how they were obtained, under a different case number to the Rust case. She disputed Spiro’s assertion the Colt .45 ammunition matched the round that killed Hutchins.
Prosecutor Kari Morrissey had questioned the allegation the evidence was concealed from Baldwin.
“If you buried it how did the defence attorneys know to cross-examine you about it yesterday?” asked Morrissey.
Prosecutors said Gutierrez of bringing the live rounds onto the set, an allegation she denied.
Baldwin was accused of playing a role in the death of Hutchins because he handled the gun irresponsibly.
His lawyers say Baldwin was failed by Gutierrez and others responsible for safety on the set, and that law enforcement agents were more interested in prosecuting their client than finding the source of a live round that killed Hutchins.
Earlier, the judge had sent home jurors in the case and outlined a plan to hear evidence on the defence motion.
Baldwin then appeared relieved in court.
He smiled and hugged his wife Hilaria Baldwin and held the hand of his sister Elizabeth Keuchler.