In a shocking turn of events, Alex Baldwin’s Rust shooting trial, which was scheduled to last at least two weeks, came to a dramatic end on Friday, July 12, as a New Mexico judge dismissed the case after the actor’s legal team argued that prosecutors had wrongly withheld key evidence related to the case.
On the third day of the trial, Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer ruled in favor of the defense, agreeing that the state had concealed evidence that could have been in Baldwin’s favor. “The state’s deliberate concealment of information was deliberate and intentional,” Sommer said. “The court has no way to correct this mistake.”
Of course, the news came as a relief to 66-year-old Baldwin, who appeared to cry in court. The actor would have faced 18 months in prison if convicted.
This is how the third day of Alex Baldwin’s trial unfolded
According to The Guardian, before the jury sat in the courtroom on Friday, Baldwin’s lawyer Luke Nicas asked for the case to be thrown out, claiming prosecutors buried evidence that could have helped shed light on how live ammunition got onto the Rust shooting set in 2021.
For those who don’t know, Baldwin, a Western actor and producer, was rehearsing a scene with a prop gun when it went off, killing cinematographer Helena Hutchins and injuring director Joel Souza. Baldwin has since insisted he didn’t pull the gun’s trigger or know why it had real bullets in it instead of fake ones.
Baldwin’s attorney Luke Nicas, according to the aforementioned publication, claimed that a man named Troy Teske, who is a friend of Rust Armorer Hannah Gutierrez Reed’s father, handed over ammunition to authorities that he believed was connected to the case. For the record, Reed was convicted of involuntary manslaughter earlier this year and is now serving an 18-month prison sentence.
“We’re talking about a prosecution that didn’t secure those bullets, that didn’t even collect them. That didn’t even hand them over,” the lawyer argued, adding, “This is crucial evidence in the case that was never told to us.” “We were entitled to it,” he insisted, before seeking to have the case dismissed.
After a long recess, Sommer heard testimony from witnesses, including Rust prop firearms supplier Seth Kenny and Corporal Alexandria Hannock of the Santa Fe Sheriff’s Office, where Teske allegedly left the ammunition. During the tense questioning, Baldwin’s attorney Alex Spiro asked Hannock if she was “hiding” any other evidence, to which she firmly replied, “I don’t think I hid anything.” However, she acknowledged that the ammunition brought by Teske was filed separately from the other Rust evidence materials. She named prosecutor Kari Morrissey, who was involved in calling for them to be filed separately.
In an unprecedented move, Morrisey called herself to testify under oath to defend her decision, but she faced a sharp rebuke from the defense team. “You just didn’t like Mr. Baldwin, did you,” Spiro asked her, to which she said she “admired” Baldwin’s politics as well as his acting. Acknowledging that her co-prosecutor Erlinda Johnson had resigned earlier in the day when the relevant evidence was dropped at the station, Morrisey explained that she did not inform the defense team of this because she did not think the ammunition handed over was considered rust evidence.
Judge Sommer delivered his ruling immediately following Morrissey’s statement.
Also read: Alex Baldwin trial: Court shows footage of cinematographer Helena Hutchins’ final moments to actor
Baldwin and his family’s reaction to Judge Sommer’s ruling
Earlier in the day, during a recess before the judge announced his verdict, Baldwin and members of his family, including his wife, brother and sister who were with him all three days of the trial, appeared pleased with the progress of the case.
According to People, Baldwin and Hilaria hugged several times, and Hilaria appeared comfortable throughout the proceedings, chatting and laughing with those seated near her.
The Baldwins left court without making a statement to the media.
Also read: How did the Rust shooting incident lead to Alex Baldwin’s involuntary manslaughter case? Timeline traced
