Alec Baldwin’s Rust manslaughter case dismissed

Alec Baldwin broke down in tears after a New Mexico judge dismissed his manslaughter lawsuit over a fatal shooting on the set of “Lust.”

Baldwin’s trial collapsed three days after it began in Santa Fe, a courtroom just a few miles from where cinematographer Halina Hutchins was shot with a revolver Baldwin used in rehearsals.

This is the second time the case has been dismissed against the actor since the shooting in October 2021. He will not face trial again.

The lawyers argued that police and prosecutors concealed evidence that could be linked to the shooting – a bundle of bullets.

A key aspect of the case is how live ammunition was brought to the shooting scene, with Baldwin’s legal team questioning mistakes made by the authorities in charge of the investigation and the scene.

Their motion to dismiss set off a stunning chain of events that saw one of the two special prosecutors assigned to the case resign and Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer dismiss the jury to hear testimony from multiple witnesses.

Baldwin’s lawyers said the shots may be connected to Hutchins’ death but were filed as separate cases under separate numbers.

Prosecutors argued the ammunition was not related to the crime and did not match bullets found at the scene of Rust’s shooting.

But the judge ruled that they should have been shared with Baldwin’s legal team anyway.

“The state’s deliberate and deliberate concealment of this information was deliberate and deliberate,” she told the court. “There is no way for the court to right this error.”

Because the judge dismissed the case rather than vacating it, prosecutors cannot refile charges against Baldwin.

“It was the nuclear option. The case is closed,” Los Angeles lawyer Joshua Ritter told the BBC.

Baldwin, known for playing Donald Trump on the NBC comedy show “30 Rock” and the sketch show “Saturday Night Live,” broke down in tears as the judge read a lengthy statement detailing the reasons for her dismissal. His wife, Hilaria, covered her mouth. Other family members cried and smiled.

The actor hugged his lawyers, then his wife, who was sitting behind him, and the two walked hand-in-hand through the media corridor and into a black car without answering any questions or making any comment.

The evidence came to light Thursday when a crime scene technician told the court that a man named Troy Teske, a retired police officer, had handed over live ammunition that may be linked to the incident.

Teske is friends with the father-in-law of Hannah Gutierrez Reed, the film’s arms manufacturer who was convicted of manslaughter earlier this year.

He worked with Seth Kenney, who helped organize props and ammunition on the film’s set.

After the judge sent the jury home on Friday, the court heard testimony about the shooting from an array of witnesses, including authorities who worked the case and Mr Kenney.

Towards the end of the trial, one of the prosecutors on the case, Kari Morrissey, took the stand to testify about the bullet and why it wasn’t given to the defense — a highly unusual move for a prosecutor to testify about their role in an investigation in a case they brought.

Morrissey testified that from her perspective, the ammunition had “no evidentiary value.” Taking the stand, Morrissey noted that co-prosecutor Erlinda Ocampo Johnson resigned on Friday after the judge indicated she would dismiss the case.

She explained that she did not agree with Mr Johnson’s decision to hold a hearing on the evidentiary claims.