In a shocking turn of events, Alec Baldwin’s Rust shooting trial, which was reported to go on for at least two weeks, came to a dramatic end on Friday, July 12, as a New Mexico judge dismissed the case after the actor’s legal team argued the prosecution wrongfully withheld crucial evidence related to the case.
On the third day of the trial, Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer ruled in favor of the defense, agreeing that the state concealed evidence that would have been favorable to Baldwin. “The state’s willful withholding of information was intentional and deliberate,” Sommer said. “There is no way for the court to right this wrong.”
The news, needless to say, was met with relief from Baldwin, 66, who appeared to weep in court. The actor would’ve faced 18 months in jail upon conviction.
Here’s how the proceedings on the third day of Alec Baldwin’s trial went
Before the jury took their seats in the courtroom on Friday, Baldwin’s attorney Luke Nikas, per The Guardian, asked for the case to be dropped, claiming that prosecutors buried the evidence that would have helped shed light on how live ammunition made it to the Rust shooting set in 2021.
For those who may not know, Baldwin, the actor, and producer of the Western flick, was rehearsing a scene with the prop gun when it discharged live ammunition that fatally struck cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and injured director Joel Souza. Baldwin has insisted since then that he did not pull the trigger of the firearm or know why it contained real bullets instead of dummies.
Baldwin’s lawyer Luke Nikas, per the aforementioned publication, claimed a man named Troy Teske, a friend of Rust armorer Hannah Gutierezz Reed’s father, turned over ammunition to authorities that he believed was connected to the case. Reed, for the record, was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter earlier this year and is now serving her 18-month prison time.
“We’re talking about a prosecution that didn’t preserve those bullets, that didn’t collect them at all. That didn’t turn them over,” the lawyer argued, adding, “This is critical evidence in the case that was never disclosed to us.” We were entitled to it, he pressed, before asking the case to be dismissed.
After a prolonged recess, Sommer heard testimonies from witnesses, including Seth Kenny, the Rust prop firearm supplier, and Corporal Alexandria Hannock of the Santa Fe Sheriff’s Office, where Teske allegedly dropped off the ammunition. During a tense examination, Baldwin’s lawyer Alex Spiro asked Hannock if she was “hiding” any more evidence, to which she replied with a firm, “I don’t think I’ve hidden anything.” She, however, admitted that the ammunition Teske brought in was filed separately from the other Rust evidence materials. She named prosecutor Kari Morrissey as the one involved in making the call to file them separately.
In a groundbreaking move, Morrissey called herself to testify under oath to defend her decision, but she was met with scathing confrontation from the defense team. “You just didn’t like Mr. Baldwin, did you,” Spiro asked her, to which she said she “appreciated” Baldwin’s politics as well as his acting. While admitting that her co-prosecutor Erlinda Johnson had resigned earlier in the day when the evidence in question was dropped to the station, Morrissey explained she did not inform the defense team of the same because she didn’t think the ammunition handed over was considered Rust evidence.
Judge Sommer delivered her ruling shortly after Morrissey’s statement.
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Baldwin and his family’s reaction to Judge Sommer’s ruling
Earlier in the day, during the recess, before the judge had delivered her judgment, Baldwin and his family members, including his wife, brother, and sister, who accompanied him on all three days of the trial, seemed pleased with the way the case was heading.
Baldwin and Hilaria, per People, hugged several times, and the latter appeared at ease throughout the remainder of the proceeding, chatting and laughing with those seated near her.
The Baldwins left the court without making a statement to the media.
