In a remarkable decision, Santa Fe Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer has dismissed the involuntary manslaughter charges against actor Alec Baldwin.
Alec Baldwin Legal Motion Leads to Case Dismissal
Alec Baldwin attorneys submitted a last-minute motion to dismiss the case, claiming they were not provided the opportunity to review potentially critical evidence: a collection of ammunition turned in around the time film armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed was on trial for involuntary manslaughter. Gutierrez-Reed is currently serving an 18-month sentence.
The ammunition became central to Baldwin’s case, as much of the testimony focused on how live rounds ended up on the set of “Rust.” During an October 2021 rehearsal for the movie, Baldwin was handling a gun that discharged, resulting in the tragic death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins. Judge Sommer concurred that the prosecution should have disclosed information about the additional ammunition to Baldwin’s defense team. This omission justified dismissing the case with prejudice, preventing any future charges against Baldwin for the same incident.
“There is no way for the court to right this wrong,” Judge Sommer stated during her ruling. Alec Baldwin and his family, who had been present in the courtroom with the actor’s wife and siblings, were visibly emotional after the decision.
Critical Evidence That Led to the Dismissal
At the time of Gutierrez-Reed’s trial, a man named Troy Teske handed over a collection of bullets to the Santa Fe Sheriff’s Office. He claimed these were from the same batch as the live ammunition used on the “Rust” set. Prosecutor Kari Morrissey noted that Teske was a close associate of Gutierrez-Reed’s father, Thell Reed, a renowned armorer. However, the bullets were logged under a different case number, and Morrissey asserted that these were not the same as the fatal bullet that killed Hutchins.
During the trial, Morrissey testified that she did not consider this evidence relevant to Alec Baldwin case. Nonetheless, Baldwin’s legal team perceived this as a cover-up, arguing that critical evidence that could have benefited Baldwin’s defense was withheld.
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Judge Sommer agreed with this assessment. “The state is highly culpable for its failure to provide this discovery to the defendant,” she ruled.
Jury Dismissed Amidst Legal Deliberations
Earlier on Friday, the jury was excused while Judge Sommer deliberated on whether to proceed with the case. Baldwin had been facing up to 18 months in prison if convicted of involuntary manslaughter.
