Actor Alex Baldwin embraces his attorney, Alex Spiro, at the conclusion of Baldwin’s trial for involuntary manslaughter at the Santa Fe County District Court in Santa Fe, New Mexico, on July 12, 2024. | Photo credit: via Reuters
A judge in New Mexico on Friday abruptly and stunningly ended the involuntary manslaughter case against Hollywood actor Alex Baldwin, dismissing it midway through the actor’s trial and saying it cannot be refiled.
Judge Mary Marlowe Sommers dismissed the case in 2021 on grounds of misconduct by police and prosecutors in withholding evidence from the defense in the shooting of cinematographer Helena Hutchins on a film set. War,
Baldwin cried, hugged two of his attorneys, gestured across the courtroom, then hugged his weeping wife Hilaria, the mother of seven of his eight children, and held the embrace for 12 seconds. He climbed into an SUV outside the Santa Fe courthouse without speaking to the media.
“The late discovery of this evidence during the trial has impeded the effective use of the evidence in such a manner that it has affected the fundamental fairness of the proceedings,” said Marlow Sommer. “If this conduct does not rise to the level of bad faith it certainly approaches bad faith so closely as to show signs of scuttling.”
The evidence that sank the case during the trial’s second day of testimony Thursday was the existence of ammunition that was brought to the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office in March by a man who said it might be related to Hutchins’ killing. Prosecutors said they considered the ammunition unrelated and unimportant, while Baldwin’s lawyers alleged they “buried” it. The defense filed one of several motions to dismiss the case over evidence issues. All the others were denied. But this one took over.
The judge’s decision vacates the 66-year-old Baldwin’s criminal convictions, which began in the nearly three-year-old case when he pointed a revolver at Hutchins during a rehearsal, killing her and wounding director Joel Souza.
“Our goal from the beginning was to obtain justice for Halyna Hutchins, and we fought to have this case tried on its merits,” District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altweis said in a statement. “We are disappointed the case did not reach a jury.”
career of The Search for Red October And 30 Rock Star and Constant Saturday night Live The host – who has been a household name for more than three decades – was put under suspicion, and could have faced up to 18 months in prison if found guilty.
Baldwin and other producers still face civil lawsuits from Hutchins’s parents and sister.
Prosecutors secured a conviction for Hutchins’ death. The film’s weapons manufacturer, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, was sentenced to 18 months in prison for involuntary manslaughter, which she is now appealing.
His attorney, Jason Bowles, said Friday that he also would file a motion to dismiss his client’s case.
“The judge upheld the integrity of the system by dismissing the case,” he said. The Associated Press in an email.
