Alec Baldwin breaks down in tears as his ‘Rust’ shooting trial is thrown out: Updates
Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer dismissed the case with prejudice based on the misconduct of police and prosecutors over the withholding of evidence from the defense
Alec Baldwin’s involuntary manslaughter case in the fatal shooting of a cinematographer Halyna Hutchins has been thrown out after just a week of testimony.
The Hollywood actor, 66, broke down in tears and hugged his attorneys and his wife Hilaria after Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer announced her decision at the end of a chaotic day in the New Mexico courtroom.
Judge Sommer dismissed the case with prejudice based on the misconduct of police and prosecutors over the withholding of evidence from the defense. The prosecution will not be able to file charges against Baldwin again in Hutchins’ death.
Nearly three years have passed since a prop gun Baldwin was holding went off during a rehearsal of the film’s shooting scene in 2021, striking and killing Hutchins and injuring director Joel Souza.
Baldwin was charged with involuntary manslaughter and faced 18 months in prison. Now, he walks free.
Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, the film’s armorer, has already been convicted of involuntary manslaughter and was sentenced to 18 months in prison. Her attorney says he plans to move to have her case dismissed.
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Special prosecutor calls herself as a witness in Baldwin’s trial
Special prosecutor Kari Morrissey has called herself to the witness stand in Alec Baldwin’s trial.
The state is attempting to rebut the defense’s claim that they hid evidence about ammunition.
The defense said it was not necessary for Morrissey to take the stand and did not call her.
Judge Somme reminded Morrissey that there is no requirement for her to testify under oath.
But Morrissey said she thought the judge wanted her to do so.
When the lead investigator was testifying earlier, Morrissey told Sommer that she could testify under oath and it sounded like, to many people in the room, that the judge replied, “You’re going to.”
“I think it's a good idea that I do it,” Morrissey said.
Filmmaker documenting Alec Baldwin’s trial
As Alec Baldwin’s trial continues, he’s being followed around Santa Fe by a filmmaker, TMZ reported.
The woman is not part of the upcoming reality show about Baldwin’s family airing next year on TLC, the outlet said, but instead appears to be working on a “Rust” documentary.
‘Rust’ prop supplier says he never brought live rounds on set
Seth Kenney that he personally loaded the dummy rounds into a box for the set of Rust. He did not bring live rounds on set.
A photo of ammunition from a text conversation between Kenney and Troy Teske was shown by the state at the hearing.
Kenney said that the ammunition had come from the set of “1883” in Texas. When asked if that ammo was brought on the set of Rust, he replied, “definitely not.”
"Have you learned a few things about the evidence in the case and the live rounds that were found on rest since November 1st of 2021?,” Morrissey asked Kenney, to which he responded, "Yes."
“Do you still believe this is evidence in the accidental death?” she added.
“Definitely not,” he responded.
“I have never spent more time with a single box of dummy rounds than the rounds that came from ‘1883,’ the dummy rounds that went to Rust,” Kenney said. “So there was never a question in my mind that I provided the live ammunition to Rust.”
WATCH LIVE: Alec Baldwin judge hears testimony from prop firearms supplier outside of jury’s presence as lawyers argue over dismissal motion
Prop firearms supplier takes the stand
Prop firearms supplier Seth Kenney takes the stand in Alec Baldwin’s trial.
His testimony is happening outside the jury's presence.
‘A wild goose chase’
The ammunition at the center of Friday’s explosive proceedings was handed over to a crime scene technician after Hannah Gutierrez-Reed’s trial by a “good Samaritan” who claimed they came from “Rust” prop supplier Seth Kenney, the owner of PDQ Props.
Special prosecutor Kari Morrissey established in her questioning that the source of the ammunition was Troy Teske, who is friends with Gutierrez-Reed’s father.
The state says the rounds do not match the rounds that were found on set because the primers are different colors.
“This is a wild goose chase,” Morrissey said. “This has no evidentiary value whatsoever.”
But the defense said that that was not for her to decide and that she should’ve disclosed it to them.
The judge asked to see the rounds and put on blue gloves. She then asked Marissa Poppell, the crime scene technician, to go through the rounds one by one.
Morrissey said the ammunition had no evidentiary value, but the defense said that that was not for her to decide and that she should’ve disclosed it to them.
Defense files surprise motion to dismiss case over ammo evidence
Alec Baldwin’s defense filed a motion to dismiss the case over disputed ammunition evidence.
The defense argued that prosecutors hid evidence from them about the ammunition that may be related to the shooting death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of the film “Rust” in 2021.
The prosecution has said that the ammunition was not connected to the case and was not hidden.
The issue came up Thursday with crime scene technician Marissa Poppell after Baldwin’s lawyer Alex Spiro suggested with his questions that Poppell and other authorities had been too cozy with the film’s firearms supplier Seth Kenney and had insufficiently investigated whether he was responsible for the live bullets reaching the set.
Special prosecutor Kari Morrissey established in her questioning that the source of the ammunition was Troy Teske, a friend of the father of the film’s armorer, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed.
Morrissey said the bullets were not the same size or chemical composition as the live rounds found on the “Rust” set, including the one that killed Hutchins.
Judge dismisses jury for the weekend
The jury is being dismissed for the weekend.
“Trials are fluid,” Judge Marlowe Sommer tells them.
They will return on Monday at 10:30am ET.
Court is now taking a break.