Alec Baldwin’s manslaughter trial over Rust shooting has been dismissed

Last Updated on July 18, 2024

The manslaughter trial against Alec Baldwin over the fatal shooting of Rust cinematographer Halyna Hutchins has been dismissed. Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer threw out the case after learning how police and prosecutors treated a handful of bullets, which they failed to turn over to the defence.

“The state has repeatedly made representations to the defense and to the court that they were compliant with all their discovery obligations,” Judge Sommer said. “Despite their repeated representations, they have continued to fail to disclose critical evidence to the defendant. The state is highly culpable for its failure to provide discovery to the defendant. Dismissal with prejudice is warranted.” Under the principle of double jeopardy, Judge Sommer ruled that Baldwin could not be retried.

The dismissal came as a surprise as gasps were said to be heard in the courtroom, and Baldwin was congratulated by his family and supporters. The defence had argued that prosecutors deliberately concealed a batch of bullets turned over to investigators in March. Erlinda Johnson, one of the special prosecutors on the case, actually resigned during the hearing.

The bullets were turned over by retired Arizona police officer Troy Teske, who is said to be a close friend of Thell Reed, the father of Rust armourer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed. Crime scene technician Marissa Poppell accepted the bullets, but they were not inventoried with the Rust case. Some of the rounds Teske handed over were Starline brass casings with nickel primers which matched the ones that killed Hutchins on the set of the movie, providing a possible explanation of where the live rounds had come from.

In an unusual move, special prosecutor Kari Morrissey called herself to the witness stand, saying that she did not believe the bullets had any evidentiary value as they did not resemble the ones from the Rust set. Judge Sommer put on latex gloves to open and examine the evidence envelope containing the bullets, where it appeared there was a similarity with the live rounds from Rust.

Baldwin’s defence attorney, Alex Spiro, also cross-examined Morrissey, asking if her failure to turn over evidence was due to her dislike of the actor. “This is absolutely untrue,” Morrissey said. “I actually really appreciate Mr. Baldwin’s movies… I really appreciate his politics.”

After the dismissal, Morrissey told reporters outside the court that while she respected the court’s decision, she disagreed with Judge Sommer’s dismissal. “I respect the court’s decision. But there is absolutely no evidence that any of that ammunition was related to the incident with Ms. Hutchins,” Morrissey said. “I’m disappointed because I believe that I believe that the importance of the evidence was misconstrued by the defense attorneys. We did everything humanly possible to bring justice to Halyna and to her family and we’re proud of the work that we did.“