Alec Baldwin’s case of involuntary manslaughter has been dismissed.
Gatekeepers News reports that the case was dismissed in dramatic a fashion after the judge overseeing the case ruled prosecutors did not properly turn over evidence to the defense.
Baldwin’s attorneys had filed a motion to dismiss the case, arguing state investigators did not properly share with the defense that a man had delivered a box of ammunition purportedly connected to the case to investigators.
Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer sent the jury home for the day and heard several hours of testimony about the alleged issue. At about 4 p.m. local time, she sided with the defense and dismissed the case with prejudice, meaning it cannot be brought again.
“The state’s discovery violation has injected a needless, incurable delay into the jury trial,” she said. “Dismissal with prejudice is warranted to ensure the integrity of the judicial system and the efficient administration of justice. Your motion to dismiss with prejudice is granted.”
Baldwin could be seen crying as the decision was announced, and he immediately hugged his wife Hilaria as court was excused for the day.
The decision came after a chaotic hearing Friday just a few days into Baldwin’s involuntary manslaughter trial related to the fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on October 21, 2021, on the New Mexico set of the Western film “Rust.” Baldwin had pleaded not guilty and could have faced up to 18 months in prison.
Baldwin was practicing a “cross draw” – pulling a gun from a holster on the opposite side of his body from his draw hand – with a prop gun when it fired a live round, killing Hutchins and injuring director Joel Souza.
At opening statements Wednesday, prosecutors alleged Baldwin violated the “cardinal rules of firearm safety” by pointing the prop gun at Hutchins and pulling the trigger.
