While some will no doubt say that Alec Baldwin got away with murder, a New Mexico judge has stopped Baldwin’s involuntary manslaughter trial, dismissing the charges with prejudice. “With prejudice” means prosecutors cannot refile the case. Baldwin cried at hearing the ruling. He’s an actor, after all.
Why the dismissal? Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer cited alleged prosecutorial misconduct in the form of withholding important evidence from the defense. This was the second trial of Baldwin in the shooting. The first involuntary manslaughter charges were dismissed in 2023, again due to prosecutorial bumbling.
The AP has more:
A New Mexico judge on Friday brought a sudden and stunning end to the involuntary manslaughter case against Alec Baldwin, dismissing it in the middle of the actor’s trial and saying it cannot be filed again.
Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer dismissed the case based on misconduct of police and prosecutors over the withholding of evidence from the defense in the 2021 shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of the film “Rust.”
Baldwin cried, hugged his two attorneys, gestured to the front of the court, then turned to hug his crying wife, Hilaria, the mother of seven of his eight children, holding the embrace for 12 seconds. He climbed into an SUV outside the Santa Fe County courthouse without speaking to the media.
“The late discovery of this evidence during trial has impeded the effective use of evidence in 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.”
Baldwin won’t spend any time in jail, unlike the film’s armorer Hannah Gutierrez Reed. Reed was sentenced to 18 months in prison back in April. This despite shooting and killing his Director of Photography, on camera. He still faces a mountain of civil lawsuits.
Interestingly, Baldwin settled the wrongful death suit filed by survivors of the late Halyna Hutchins in 2023. The settlement was supposed to have been paid by Rust Movie Productions LLC, but guess what? That hasn’t happened.
Variety has the details of that non-payment . . .
The producers of the Alec Baldwin film “Rust” are nine months late in paying the widower and son of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, who was killed in a gun accident on set in 2021, according to a recent court filing.
Baldwin and the other producers announced a settlement of the family’s wrongful death lawsuit in October 2022. The terms, finalized in March 2023, provided for completion of “Rust” and payments to the Hutchins estate, including insurance funds and a portion of the profits.
Rust Movie Productions LLC was supposed to make the full guaranteed payments by June 13, 2023, according to a Feb. 7 filing from the estate’s attorneys.
But that has not happened, according to the filing. The estate is now considering its options, which include resuming the wrongful death lawsuit or filing a new one.
Maybe Baldwin’s new “reality” show about his wife and family will bring in enough money to allow him to pay Hutchins’ survivors. And maybe someday unicorns will fart Skittles.
I hate to see Baldwin walk on this, but the State not turning over evidence to the defense is a HUGE no-no, and dismissal with prejudice is the usual remedy.
This is so glaringly obvious (notice that the #2 prosecutor immediately resigned once it came out) that I have to wonder whether the lead prosecutor deliberately took a dive on this. Hopefully, someone will be looking into that.
Here’s an archived article from the New York Times, for what it’s worth, describing the whole situation —
https://archive.ph/eaFTT
IMHO, this is a “diversity hire” issue.
“This is so glaringly obvious (notice that the #2 prosecutor immediately resigned once it came out) that I have to wonder whether the lead prosecutor deliberately took a dive on this.”
Listen to this snippet, where she is asked about whether she likes Baldwin, and her reply about his politics :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bt0Y8bayDAw
LKB –
Prosecutor #2 speaks about why she walked :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xow2kvGQWBs
(Totally off-topic but strange, notice how the #2 looks strikingly like the judge, like they could be sisters?…)
Glad to hear Baldwin case dismissed. Preposterous that he was ever charged!
Good luck to you Mr. Baldwin.
As a long time 2A advocate I was hopeful that frequently anti 2A Baldwin would finally receive well deserved Karma and spend some time behing bars for his reckless conduct. While I am disappointed that Baldwinn gets to “skate” on his misconduct, I fully support the judges decision provided the misconduct alleged against the prosecution team is valid. Government prosecutors and LEO’s should NEVER be rewarded for prosecutorial misconduct. A special prosecutor should be empowered to scrutinize what happened her and if warranted not only terminate but also incarcerated.