SANTA FE, New Mexico, July 12 (Reuters) – A New Mexico judge dismissed involuntary manslaughter charges against Alec Baldwin on Friday, agreeing with his lawyers that prosecutors and police withheld evidence on the source of the live round that killed “Rust” cinematographer Halyna Hutchins in 2021.
Three days after Baldwin’s trial began in New Mexico, Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer ruled after hearing evidence on the defense request made earlier on Friday.
Baldwin hugged his wife Hilaria Baldwin, who had been in court throughout this week’s hearings, and his sister Elizabeth Keuchler was in tears after the judge’s ruling. Baldwin then left the courthouse without speaking to reporters.
The actor’s legal team 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 defense lawyers.
They also alleged the rounds were evidence that 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.
“The state’s withholding of the evidence was wilful and deliberate,“ Sommer said in delivering her decision. “Dismissal with prejudice is warranted to ensure the integrity of the judicial system and the efficient administration of justice.”
Erlinda Johnson, one of the state prosecutors, resigned from the case earlier on Friday.
“I did not intend to mislead the court,“ lead state prosecutor Kari Morrissey told the court after calling herself to the stand. “My understanding of what was dropped off at the sheriff’s office is on this computer screen and it looks absolutely nothing like the live rounds from the set of Rust.”
The Colt .45 rounds at the center 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” armorer 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, testified 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 defense lawyer Alex Spiro’s assertion the Colt .45 ammunition matched the round that killed Hutchins.
Spiro questioned Morrissey about her attitude toward his client, saying witnesses had reported she had characterized him with expletives said she would teach him a lesson.
“I never said to witnesses that I would teach him a lesson,“ she said.
Prosecutors accused Gutierrez of bringing the live rounds onto the set, an allegation she denied.
Prosecutors allege Baldwin played 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.
