The case against Alec Baldwin over an ill-fated incident on the film set of ‘Rust’ has been dismissed over “critical” bullet evidence, which the judge ruled was withheld from the court.
Yesterday (July 12), New Mexico Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer stated in her ruling to dismiss the case to the court. “The state has repeatedly made representations to defense and to the court that they were compliant with all their discovery obligations,” she said, as reported by Deadline.
On October 21, 2021 in Santa Fe, New Mexico, cinematographer Halyna Hutchins was fatally shot and director Joel Souza was injured on the set of the film – a live round had been discharged from a revolver that was used as a prop by Baldwin.
The case has since taken sharp turns since the beginning of the trial this week (July 10), including confusion over how live rounds ended up on the set of ‘Rust’ in the guns of Baldwin and others, including actor Jansen Ackles, whose role was recast during the film’s resurrected production in 2022.
The trial also did not reach a conclusion if Baldwin had pulled the trigger on the gun with the live bullet – Baldwin testified that he did not, while testimonies from an FBI representative and the propmaker of the gun otherwise disagreed. But it was the alleged concealment of live bullet evidence by state officials that led to the case’s dismissal.
“Despite their repeated representations, they have continued to fail to disclose critical evidence to the defendant,” Judge Sommer continued. Baldwin was seen breaking down in tears at the announcement of the ruling.
This ruling came after Baldwin’s legal team filed a motion to dismiss the case, arguing that prosecutors deliberately hid bullets that were turned over to investigators in March, which they claimed are relevant to the case. The motion, filed on Thursday (July 11) per Deadline, alleged that the state’s investigation into the case was “biased, improperly motivated, and incompetent” and that state officials “misrepresented the evidence that it had collected”.
Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, 26, who had served as an armourer on the film, had been on trial charged with involuntary manslaughter, to which she pled not guilty. In March, the jury convicted her, but found her not guilty of tampering with evidence. Deadline also reports that the ruling might also mean the release of Gutierrez-Reed.
John Day, a lawyer and legal commentator, told Variety that the case was “an absolute catastrophe.” The lead prosecutor in the case, Kari Morrissey, expressed her disappointment at the ruling to reporters. I believe that the importance of the evidence was misconstrued by the defense attorneys,” she said, per Variety. “We did everything humanly possible to bring justice to Halyna and to her family, and we’re proud of the work that we did.”
In January, SAG-AFTRA issued a statement defending Baldwin’s role in Hutchins’ death. “An actor’s job is not to be a firearms or weapons expert,” the union said. “Performers train to perform, and they are not required or expected to be experts on guns or experienced in their use. The industry assigns that responsibility to qualified professionals who oversee their use and handling in every aspect.”