Alec Baldwin has been in and out of the spotlight over the past few years for tragic reasons, following the shooting on the set of his film Rust that resulted in the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins in New Mexico in 2021. After some back and forth over involuntary manslaughter charges going back to early 2023, the case has officially been dismissed due to what the judge deemed a “failure” with evidence.
The manslaughter case was dismissed on July 12 after Alec Baldwin’s defense attorneys argued that key bits of evidence – bullets that had been given to investigators all the way back in March – had been hidden by the prosecution. According to Variety, Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer in Santa Fe, New Mexico sent the jury home on Friday morning despite the previous expectation that they’d hear testimony, then ultimately decided that the case should be dismissed. She said:
The state is highly culpable for its failure to provide discovery to the defendant. Dismissal with prejudice is warranted.
The dismissal “with prejudice” means that the case against Baldwin cannot be refiled within that court. The outlet reports that Baldwin exited the courthouse with wife Hilaria, choosing to enter a car rather than speak with assembled media. THR shared more of what Sommer said in her dismissal:
The late discovery of this evidence has impacted the fundamental fairness of the proceedings. There is no way for the court to right this wrong. The sanction of dismissal is the only warranted remedy.
The dismissal is due to how prosecutors and police handled the bullets in question, and Erlinda Ocampo Johnson – one of the two special prosecutors assigned to the case – has resigned. The other special prosecutor, Kari Morrissey, did ultimately speak with press after the dismissal, saying:
I respect the court’s decision. But there is absolutely no evidence that any of that ammunition was related to the incident with Miss Hutchins.
The dismissal comes less than a month after trial allegations that Baldwin had fired a blank-filled gun at a crew member before the tragic death of Halyna Hutchins. She was killed in October 2021, with the earliest reports claiming a misfire of what was meant to be Alec Baldwin’s prop gun that had killed Hutchins and injured director Joel Souza on the set of Rust. Baldwin was officially charged with involuntary manslaughter in early 2023, as well as the Rust armorer who had been in charge of the weapons.
Charges were later dropped in April of that year, but Baldwin was hit with a new indictment back in January on involuntary manslaughter charges. Earlier this year, armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed was sentenced to 18 months in prison after her conviction for involuntary manslaughter. According to TVLine, Baldwin would have faced up to 18 months as well if he’d been found guilty and sentenced instead of his case being dismissed.
At the time of writing, Alec Baldwin has not yet publicly responded to the dismissal of his case.