Judge Dismisses Alec Baldwin’s Involuntary Manslaughter Case Due to Evidence Disclosure Failures

News Mania Desk/Agnibeena Ghosh/13th July 2024

In a significant legal development, Santa Fe Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer has dismissed the involuntary manslaughter case against actor Alec Baldwin. The decision comes after Baldwin’s legal team argued that they were not given the opportunity to examine potentially crucial evidence—ammunition turned in during the trial of the film’s armorer, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed. Gutierrez-Reed, who was also charged with involuntary manslaughter, is currently serving an 18-month sentence.

The controversy surrounding the ammunition is central to Baldwin’s case. The live ammunition’s presence on the “Rust” film set has been a focal point of testimony. During a rehearsal in October 2021, Baldwin accidentally discharged a firearm, resulting in the tragic death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.

Judge Sommer agreed with Baldwin’s attorneys that the prosecution should have disclosed details about the additional ammunition. This failure was deemed substantial enough to warrant the case’s dismissal with prejudice, preventing it from being brought against Baldwin again. “There is no way for the court to right this wrong,” Judge Sommer stated, emphasizing the gravity of the prosecution’s oversight. The courtroom was emotionally charged as Baldwin and his family, present since testimony began, broke down in tears following the ruling.

The ammunition, pivotal in the case, was turned in by a man named Troy Teske to the Santa Fe Sheriff’s Office around the time of Gutierrez-Reed’s trial. Teske claimed the bullets were from the same batch as those used on the set of “Rust.” Prosecutor Kari Morrissey, who acknowledged Teske’s connection to Gutierrez-Reed’s father, believed the bullets were not the same as the fatal one that killed Hutchins and initially deemed them irrelevant to Baldwin’s trial.

However, Baldwin’s defense saw this as a cover-up, arguing that the evidence could have been instrumental in proving Baldwin’s innocence. Judge Sommer concurred with the defense, highlighting the state’s culpability for not providing this discovery to Baldwin’s team. The jury was dismissed earlier on Friday as Judge Sommer deliberated on whether to proceed with the case, ultimately deciding in favor of dismissal.

Baldwin, who had been facing up to 18 months in prison for involuntary manslaughter, had consistently maintained that ensuring the absence of live ammunition on set was not his responsibility. His defense team argued that other individuals on the set were responsible for this critical safety measure. The trial had commenced with prosecutors asserting that Baldwin had ignored safety standards, while the defense pointed to systemic failures in on-set safety protocols.

The legal journey for Baldwin has been fraught with twists and turns. He was indicted earlier this year after initial charges were downgraded and then dropped. Meanwhile, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, the armorer for “Rust,” was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter earlier in the year.

The tragic incident also led to a court settlement between Baldwin and Halyna Hutchins’ widower, Matthew Hutchins. As part of the settlement, Matthew Hutchins became an executive producer on the “Rust” film, which continued and concluded its production in Montana last year.

Halyna Hutchins’ death has reignited debates about the use of real firearms on movie sets and has drawn attention to broader on-set safety issues. The dismissal of Baldwin’s case highlights the complexities and challenges in the pursuit of justice within the film industry and underscores the critical importance of procedural transparency and integrity in legal proceedings.