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A judge on Friday dismissed the involuntary manslaughter charge against actor Alec Baldwin in the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, whom he accidentally shot and killed on the set of indie Western “Rust” in 2021.
The decision in Baldwin’s case comes only three days after his trial began in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Leading up to the move, Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer had sent the jury home Friday after defense attorneys presented a motion accusing prosecutors of burying evidence.
Sommer dismissed the case with prejudice, barring the state from presenting a new trial.
Baldwin’s attorneys argued that the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office was in possession of evidence, including live rounds, but did not disclose this in the official case file or to his defense team.
Special prosecutor Kari Morrissey called herself to the witness stand in an attempt to contest the claim that the state hid evidence. During her questioning, Morrissey told Alex Spiro, Baldwin’s attorney, that her fellow prosector Erlinda Ocampo Johnson resigned that same day due to the decision to have a public hearing into the motion to dismiss the case.
As the judge announced the dismissal, Baldwin covered his face with his hand and sobbed, hugging his attorneys.
Morrissey told reporters outside the courthouse that she disagreed with the judge’s decision but respected it. She disputed that the ammunition could have been key evidence for Baldwin’s defense.
“I believe that the importance of the evidence was misconstrued by the defense attorneys,” she said.