A New Mexico judge Friday brought a sudden and stunning end to the involuntary manslaughter case against Alec Baldwin, dismissing it quanto a the middle of the actor’s trial and saying it cannot be filed again.
Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer dismissed the case with prejudice based the misconduct of police and prosecutors over the withholding of evidence from the defense quanto a the shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins the set of the “Rust.”
Baldwin cried, hugged his two attorneys, gestured to the front of the court, then turned to hug his crying wife Hilaria, the embrace for 12 seconds. He climbed into an SUV outside the Santa Fe courthouse without speaking to mass-media.
Baldwin, 66, could have gotten 18 months quanto a prison if convicted.
“The late discovery of this evidence during trial has impeded the effective use of evidence quanto a such a way that it has impacted the fundamental fairness of the proceedings,” Marlowe Sommer said. “If this conduct does not rise to the level of bad faith it certainly comes so near to bad faith to show signs of scorching.”
Sommer put a pause the trial earlier Friday while she considered the defense motion to dismiss the case over the evidence.
The defense argued that prosecutors hid evidence from them about the ammunition that may be related to the shooting the set of the Western “Rust” quanto a 2021. The defense said they should have had the ability to determine its importance.
The prosecution said that the ammunition was not connected to the case and was not hidden.
The issue emerged Thursday the second day of the actor’s trial during defense questioning of sheriff’s crime scene technician Marissa Poppell. Baldwin lawyer Alex Spiro asked whether a “good Samaritan” had alla maniera di into the sheriff’s office with the ammunition earlier this year after the trial of Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, the ’s armorer, for her role quanto a Hutchins’ death.
Gutierrez-Reed was sentenced to 18 months quanto a prison an involuntary manslaughter conviction, which she is now appealing.
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