Alec Baldwin held a gun toward a cameraman when it fired, killing her.
Los Angeles:
Alec Baldwin’s involuntary manslaughter trial collapsed in spectacular fashion Friday when a judge found key evidence about a fatal shooting on the set of “Rust” had been withheld from the defense and dismissed the case.
Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer, presiding over the trial in Santa Fe, New Mexico, said bullets that may have been linked to the death of cameraman Halyna Hutchins and could have benefited Baldwin’s case were not shot by police and prosecutors with his lawyers. were shared.
The Hollywood A-lister immediately burst into tears as the case – in which he could have been sentenced to 18 months in prison if found guilty – was abruptly thrown into sensational scenes.
“The state’s deliberate withholding of this information was deliberate and deliberate. If this behavior does not rise to the level of bad faith, it certainly comes close enough to bad faith that it shows signs of searing prejudice,” said Marlowe Sommer.
“The court concludes that this behavior is very detrimental to the suspect.”
Baldwin held a gun toward Hutchins during a rehearsal in October 2021 when the gun discharged, killing Hutchins and injuring the film’s director.
The film’s gunsmith, Hannah Gutierrez, who loaded the deadly weapon is already serving 18 months in prison for involuntary manslaughter.
Baldwin faced the same charges. Prosecutors allege he ignored basic gun safety laws and acted recklessly on set.
Baldwin’s celebrity attorney Alex Spiro argued that the actor was not responsible for checking the deadly contents of the weapon and did not know it contained live rounds.
But the defense’s case also rested heavily on discrediting the police investigation.
And Spiro introduced evidence Thursday that live bullets possibly linked to the shooting had been turned over to police but not disclosed to Baldwin’s attorneys.
‘To bury’
The bullets were handed in to the police by a ‘Good Samaritan’ earlier this year, more than two years after the ‘Rust’ tragedy.
The “Good Samaritan” was a former police officer and a family friend of Gutierrez, the gunmaker. He told police the bullets matched the ones that killed Hutchins.
Spiro accused police of “burying” evidence by not submitting it under the “Rust” case, depriving the defense of a chance to see it.
“That was a perfect plan,” he told the court.
Crime scene technician Marissa Poppell, under questioning by Spiro, said she had cataloged the bullets but was told not to submit them under the “Rust” case.
Special Prosecutor Kari Morrissey rushed to respond, telling the court she had never seen or heard of the bullets before this week.
But when it emerged that Morrissey had been present at discussions in which it was decided not to include the bullets in the “Rust” file, Morrissey voluntarily called himself as a witness in a last-ditch effort to save the state’s case.
She claimed that the supposedly “buried” bullets did not match the live bullets found on the set of “Rust” and that they were stored in another state, Arizona, until the day of the tragic shooting.
Marlowe Sommer was not convinced and dismissed the case, prompting emotional scenes for Baldwin and his family.
‘Stunned’
Baldwin is highly unlikely to face criminal court again after the shooting, legal experts said, although he could still file civil lawsuits.
“As far as the criminal proceedings go, it’s over. They can’t file charges again,” said Los Angeles attorney Tre Lovell.
‘It was rejected with prejudice. To try again would be double jeopardy. You can not do that.’
University of Richmond law professor Carl Tobias agreed that “on the criminal side, I think it’s done.”
“The prosecutors could try to make an extraordinary appeal somehow. But I don’t think an appeals court would agree with the prosecutor,” he said.
The withheld evidence could benefit Gutierrez, the film’s gunsmith who has already appealed, and David Halls, the film’s first assistant director who has taken a plea deal and admitted negligence.
Christopher Melcher, a Los Angeles lawyer, told AFP he was “stunned” by the case’s sudden collapse.
“The case unfolded as quickly as I’ve ever seen a case… It was just absolutely amazing to watch.”
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
