Santa Fe Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer has dismissed the involuntary manslaughter case against actor Alec Baldwin.
Baldwin’s attorneys had filed a last-minute motion to dismiss the case, arguing that they were not given the opportunity to examine potentially crucial evidence: a collection of ammunition turned in around the time the film’s armorer, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, was on trial for involuntary manslaughter. Gutierrez-Reed is currently serving an 18-month sentence.
This ammunition was central to Baldwin’s case, as much of the testimony focused on how live ammunition ended up on the set of Rust. The incident occurred during a rehearsal for the movie in October 2021, when Baldwin was handling a gun that discharged, tragically killing cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.
Judge Sommer concurred that the prosecution should have disclosed information about the additional ammunition to Baldwin’s defense team. This oversight led to the case being dismissed with prejudice, meaning Baldwin cannot be tried for this again.
“There is no way for the court to right this wrong,” Sommer stated in her ruling. Baldwin and his family were emotional in the courtroom, supported by his wife and siblings since the testimony began on Wednesday.
The pivotal evidence involved a man named Troy Teske, who turned in a collection of bullets to the Santa Fe Sheriff’s Office around the time of Gutierrez-Reed’s trial. Teske claimed these bullets were from the same batch as the live ammunition used on the Rust set. Prosecutor Kari Morrissey noted that Teske was a close friend of Gutierrez-Reed’s father, Thell Reed, a well-known armorer. The bullets were filed under a different case number, and Morrissey asserted that she believed they were not the same as the fatal bullet that killed Hutchins.
Morrissey later took the witness stand, admitting she didn’t consider the evidence relevant to Baldwin’s trial. However, Baldwin’s legal team suspected a cover-up, arguing that potential evidence that could have aided Baldwin’s case was withheld. Judge Sommer agreed, stating, “The state is highly culpable for its failure to provide this discovery to the defendant.”
Earlier on Friday, the jury was dismissed while the judge deliberated whether to continue with the case.
Baldwin had faced a potential sentence of up to 18 months in prison for involuntary manslaughter.