Alec Baldwin’s Manslaughter trial The case took a surprising turn of events on Friday, when the jury was dismissed for a day and the court considered motions by the defense alleging that live ammunition that ended up in the hands of local police in connection with the investigation into the deadly “Last” shooting was “concealed” from police.
In an emergency motion filed late Thursday, the defense argued the case should be dismissed over the handling of ammunition evidence. In court Friday, the state argued the evidence had no exculpatory value and was irrelevant to Baldwin’s case.
The issue was raised for the first time in court Thursday, the second day of the actor’s manslaughter trial in the October 2021 shooting and killing of cinematographer Halina Hutchins when Baldwin fired a live round from a handgun on the set of a western in Santa Fe.
Defense argues evidence was suppressed
Defense attorney Alex Spiro questioned Marissa Poppel, a crime scene technician with the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office who helped collect evidence in the case, about a “good Samaritan” who gave the sheriff’s office ammunition during the trial of “Rust” weapons manufacturer Hannah Gutierrez in March that reportedly ended up in the hands of Seth Kenney. The film was supplied Firearms, blanks, dummy bullets, etc.
Gutierrez is was convicted of manslaughter In Hutchins’ death, prosecutors argued that the gunman was the source of the live ammunition that killed her and failed to follow safety procedures to protect crew members when handling firearms.
Poppel testified that he was instructed by the lieutenant to prepare a report documenting that the individual had come and handed over the ammunition, and that he filed it under a separate case number from the “Rust” case.
“I buried it,” Spiro said.
“No,” Poppel replied, “there was a supplemental report on that, which was submitted as evidence.”
Spiro went on to ask: “Is it likely that police have the same ammunition that killed Mr. Hutchins?”
“I don’t know,” Poppel said.
“And you don’t know because you didn’t write up a written report about this and include it with the rest of your Rust evidence?” Spiro asked.
“Those bullets were not placed with the rest of the evidence from ‘Rust,’ that’s correct,” Poppel said.
“Those weren’t sent to the FBI to be examined along with the Rust evidence, were they?” Spiro asked.
“No, that’s not the case,” Poppel said.
During oral arguments Thursday, prosecutor Kari Morrissey assured Poppel that Baldwin is not guilty of manslaughter for bringing live ammunition onto a movie set or loading a live gun.
“Has anyone already been tried and convicted of these charges?” Morrissey asked.
“Yes,” Poppel said of Gutierrez.
Morrissey asked Popell if he was aware in the motion that the “good Samaritan” who provided the ammunition at issue was Troy Teske, a “close friend” of Gutierrez’s father, well-known Hollywood arms manufacturer Thel Reed, but Popell said he did not.
“Are you aware that Troy Teske had a motive to try to pin the blame on Seth Kenney in order to help Hannah Gutierrez?” Morrissey asked.
“No, I didn’t know about that,” Poppel said.
Poppel testified that Kenney provided his own ammunition to the sheriff’s office, but when tested, it did not match the ammunition found on set, nor did it match the ammunition found in Kenney’s prop shed, she said.
Poppel testified that based on photographic evidence from the scene, Gutierrez was determined to be the source of the live ammunition.
Gutierrez’s attorney, Jason Bowles, said it was “beyond shocking” that the ammunition Teske provided to the sheriff’s office was not tested.
“They hid the facts until they were brought to justice. If we want to get to the truth, we must pursue every lead,” he said in a statement.
The trial moves to a motion hearing.
Morrissey said during Friday’s motion hearing that the state was initially provided with photos of ammunition by Teske, a former officer in Arizona, and based on those photos determined they did not match the live ammunition found at the shooting scene, and that “we do not intend to pursue this matter any further.”
“The ammunition that Troy Teske had has absolutely no evidentiary value in the Gutierrez case. It has no evidentiary value in the Baldwin case,” Morrissey said.
His lawyer, Luke Nikas, charged that the evidence had been “suppressed” by being classified under a different case number and said it was “significant” evidence that needed to be disclosed.
“Mr Morrissey has no power to determine what has evidentiary value and what does not,” he said.
Taking the stand at Friday’s motion hearing, Poppel disputed that the ammunition was hidden and said it wasn’t evidence that Kenney provided live ammunition on the set of “Last.”
“If you buried it, how did the defense know to cross-examine you about it yesterday?” Morrissey asked Popell.
“I don’t know,” she replied.
Kenney testified at Friday’s hearing that Teske first informed investigators he had live ammunition during an interview in November 2021, days after the shooting. Kenney said he thought that may have been the source of the live ammunition at the shooting scene, but later determined that wasn’t the case due to differences between the powder and bullets.
When asked if he thought Reid and Tell wanted to blame him for introducing live ammunition into the set of “Last,” Morrissey replied: “To varying degrees, yes.”
“It was clear they were trying to blame me,” he said.
Kenney testified that he was certain he did not provide live ammunition for the film.
“I never doubted that I provided live ammunition for ‘Last,'” he said.
