Alec Baldwin’s Involuntary Manslaughter Case Dismissed by Judge

Alec Baldwin‘s involuntary manslaughter trial after the death of the cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of his film Rust has been fired.

First Judicial District Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer dismissed the case on July 12 in Santa Fe, New Mexico court, agreed with Baldwin’s lawyer that prosecutors hid evidence that has been linked to the fatal shooting.

“There is no way for the court to right this wrong,” Marlowe Sommer said in court, according to NBC News. “The sanction of dismissal is the only remedy guaranteed.” The dismissal was with prejudice, meaning the involuntary manslaughter case against Baldwin could not be refiled.

According to the outlet, Baldwin cried and put her face in her hands after the decision was made before hugging her husband, Hilaria Baldwin.

related: Alec Baldwin’s Trial for Involuntary Manslaughter Begins: What You Need to Know

Mark Sagliocco / Getty Images for the involuntary manslaughter case of Alec Baldwin National Geographic has ended three years after the fatal shooting on the plane from Rust. Baldwin was initially charged with two counts of involuntary manslaughter in January 2023 after he held a prop weapon containing live bullets on the set of the film (…)

Earlier on Friday, Alec and his legal team filed a motion to dismiss the case when it was revealed that the state allegedly failed to turn over several bullets to the defense. According to Fox News, Baldwin’s attorney, Luke Nikasaccused the prosecution of concealing evidence that “would agree” to the actor.

Nikas alleged that the state withheld evidence that prop distributors Seth Kenney there is a source of live ammunition. Kenney, owner of a prop firearms supplier for Rustbefore denying wrongdoing in the incident.

Per Fox News, crime scene technicians Marissa Poppell testified during cross-examination on Thursday, July 11, that the “good Samaritan” handed over the ammunition immediately after finishing Rust armorer Hannah Gutierrez Reed‘s trial for the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Department. The “good Samaritan” is revealed Troy Teske, who is a family friend of Gutierrez Reed’s father. Baldwin’s attorneys argued this information was not provided to the defense.

Curry Morrissey, the special prosecutor in the case, said the disputed ammunition was either unrelated to the case or hidden from Alec’s attorney. He supports that the bullet is not the same size or composition as the live round taken from Rust set out and described the dispute as “a wild goose chase with no evidentiary value whatsoever.”

In October 2021, Baldwin was rehearsing a scene for a Western on the New Mexico set when the gun he was holding went off. Although the weapon was not supposed to be loaded with live ammunition, a bullet was fired, injuring Hutchins and the director. Joel Souza.

After the tragedy, Baldwin insisted he was innocent of any wrongdoing. “The trigger wasn’t pulled. I didn’t pull the trigger. I’m not going to point a gun at anybody and pull the trigger. Don’t,” he said in a December 2021 interview with George Stephanopoulos. “I don’t know (how the bullet got in there). Someone put a live bullet in the gun. The bullet wasn’t necessarily on the property.”

Baldwin was charged with involuntary manslaughter in January 2023. Prosecutors later dropped the case in April 2023 after he pleaded not guilty.

“We are pleased with the decision to dismiss the case against Alec Baldwin and we encourage a proper investigation into the facts and circumstances of this tragic accident,” Baldwin’s lawyer, Luke Nikas and Alex Spirosaid in a statement at the time.

Reports surfaced in August 2023 that charges against Baldwin could be refiled after an independent investigation into the gun determined that the gun had not malfunctioned and that the trigger had to be pulled in order for the weapon to fire.

Us Weekly confirmed in January that Baldwin was charged with involuntary manslaughter twice, once again pleading not guilty. “We look forward to our day in court,” Nikas and Spiro said us in the statement.

Chris Brown is not the only celebrity who has faced the judge. See more stars on the court such as Taylor Swift, Lindsay Lohan and others.

In addition to Baldwin, two crew members were charged in the incident. Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, the armorer who is responsible for firearms on the plane, pleaded not guilty to one count of involuntary manslaughter and one count of tampering with evidence for allegedly handing off a bag of cocaine after the police interview her after the shooting. The trial began in February.

First assistant director David Hallswho handed the gun to Baldwin before shooting, pleaded no contest to negligent use of a deadly weapon and was sentenced to six months of unsupervised probation.

Before Baldwin’s trial, she was named in a February 2022 wrongful-death lawsuit filed on behalf of Hutchins’ husband, Matthew, and his son. In October, they agreed to an undisclosed settlement.