US actor Alec Baldwin (L) attends his trial for involuntary manslaughter at Santa Fe County District Court in Santa Fe, New Mexico, on July 12, 2024.
Ramsay De Give | AFP | Getty Images
A New Mexico judge on Friday dismissed the criminal involuntary manslaughter case against Alec Baldwin on the third day of the actor’s trial, after ruling that prosecutors kept evidence about ammunition related to the case secret from defense lawyers.
Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer tossed the case against Baldwin, which related to the October 2021 accidental shooting death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of his movie “Rust,” with prejudice. That means prosecutors cannot retry the “30 Rock” actor.
Baldwin wept as the decision was announced, on what was the third day of trial in the case in state court in Santa Fe.
“There is no way for the court to right this wrong,” Sommers said, referring to the prosecution’s actions. “The sanction of dismissal is the only warranted remedy.”
Earlier Friday, Sommer had sent jurors home for the weekend after receiving a motion from Baldwin’s attorneys seeking to dismiss the case. She then conducted a hearing on the defense’s claims.
Defense lawyers cited the ammunition in the possession of prosecutors, which had not been previously disclosed to Baldwin’s team.
“We don’t know if it’s a live ammunition match or not,” Baldwin’s attorney Luke Nikas told Sommer, according to the Associated Press. “But we do know that the state had it, and it’s disclosable.”
Prosecutors in turn claimed that the ammo was not related to the case.
The dismissal comes 16 months after the charges against Baldwin were first tossed out by prosecutors after they said “new facts” had emerged that required further investigation.
The case was refiled against him earlier this year.
Baldwin was rehearsing a scene when a revolver he was handling fired, killing the 42-year-old Hutchins.
Since the shooting, Baldwin has denied that he pulled the trigger of the weapon.
He had faced the possibility of being sentenced to 18 months in prison if convicted in the case.
Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, who had served as the armorer on the “Rust” production, is currently serving an 18-month prison sentence after being convicted of involuntary manslaughter.
Her conviction now might be reversed as a result of the ruling in Baldwin’s case.