Judge dismisses charges against Alec Baldwin after defense alleges government misconduct

The involuntary manslaughter case against actor Alec Baldwin was dramatically dismissed Friday after the judge hearing the case ruled that prosecutors had failed to properly turn over evidence to the defense.

Baldwin’s attorneys filed a motion to dismiss the case, arguing that investigators failed to properly tell the defense that a man had delivered a box of ammunition to investigators that was allegedly related to the case.

Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer sent the jury home for the day and heard several hours of testimony on the alleged issue. Around 4 p.m. local time, she sided with the defense and dismissed the case with prejudice, meaning it cannot be refiled.

“The state’s discovery violation has caused an unnecessary, incurable delay in the jury trial,” she said. “Dismissal with prejudice is warranted to preserve the integrity of the justice system and the efficient administration of justice. Your motion to dismiss with prejudice is granted.”

Baldwin cried when the verdict was announced and immediately hugged his wife Hilaria when the court adjourned for the day.

The decision came after a chaotic hearing on Friday, just days after Baldwin’s trial began on involuntary manslaughter charges in connection with the Oct. 21, 2021, fatal shooting of camerawoman Halyna Hutchins on the set of the western film “Rust” in New Mexico. Baldwin had pleaded not guilty and could have received a maximum of 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 drawing hand – with a prop gun when a live shot was fired, killing Hutchins and wounding director Joel Souza.

During opening statements on Wednesday, prosecutors alleged that Baldwin violated “basic rules of firearm safety” by pointing the gun at Hutchins and pulling the trigger.

However, the defense blamed the film’s gunsmith and first assistant director — who were jointly responsible for firearms safety on set — for having a real bullet loaded into the prop gun and failing to make the bullet safe before it reached Baldwin.

“This was an unspeakable tragedy, but Alec Baldwin committed no crime. He was an actor, acting, playing the role of Harlan Rust,” attorney Alex Spiro said. “These ‘cardinal rules’ are not cardinal rules on a movie set.”

The case against Baldwin was marked by years of fits and starts, with changing prosecutors, a prosecution dogged by questions about the integrity of the evidence and a steady stream of motions from Baldwin’s team to dismiss the charges.

This is the third criminal case related to the shooting on the set. In March, Hannah Gutierrez Reed, the gunsmith on “Rust,” was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter and sentenced to 18 months in prison.

Her attorney, Jason Bowles, spoke to CNN after Baldwin’s case was dismissed. “The judge found willful misconduct and we’ve had the same mistakes in Hannah’s case, by the state,” he said. “We will be filing a motion to dismiss Hannah’s case.”

Dave Halls, the assistant director, agreed not to plead guilty to negligent use of a deadly weapon, the district attorney for the First Judicial District of New Mexico said. The terms of the deal include six months of probation and a suspended sentence, prosecutors said.

How the case unfolded

The case was solved in real time Friday afternoon, culminating in a bizarre scene in which special prosecutor Kari Morrissey agreed to testify as a witness and answer pointed questions from defense attorney Alex Spiro under oath.

In her testimony, Morrissey said that special counsel Erlinda Johnson — who delivered her opening statement against Baldwin — had resigned from the prosecution that day.

“I understand she disagreed with the decision to hold a public hearing,” Morrissey said.

The question of evidence first came to light Thursday. In court, a crime scene technician testified that a man delivered a box of ammunition to the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office in March following the conviction of “Rust” gunmaker Hannah Gutierrez Reed. The man, Troy Teske, a retired police officer and friend of the gunmaker’s father, told investigators he believed the ammunition could be connected to the “Rust” incident, crime scene technician Marissa Poppell testified.

However, the technician testified that the items were cataloged separately from Baldwin’s suitcase and were not included in the inventory of the “Rust” suitcase or tested to see if they matched the fatal bullet.

Baldwin’s team argued that prosecutors failed to properly disclose this evidence to the defense and asked for the case to be dismissed.

Morrissey responded by saying that investigators had determined that the ammunition did not match that found on the set of “Rust” and was of no evidentiary value to the case. “This is a wild goose chase,” Morrissey argued.

The judge sent the jury home for the rest of the day and allowed further testimony on the matter.

In a “highly unusual” development, the judge requested that Poppell be recalled to the witness stand to discuss the rounds outside the presence of the jury.

The witness, judge and attorneys all donned blue gloves and gathered around a table in the center of the courtroom, where the envelope containing the bullets was unsealed and examined by the judge to determine if it matched the bullets recovered from the film set. The courtroom was silent and tense as the judge compared the bullets.

The judge then ordered more witnesses to testify. Several detectives also testified that Teske had delivered a box of ammunition to the sheriff’s office in March. He said the ammunition matched the ammunition found on set.

The investigators testified that they and Morrissey determined that the ammunition was not relevant to the “Rust” case and therefore did not turn it over to the defense. Poppell said she filled out a report on the interaction, but that it was filed under a different case number.

However, Cpl. Alexandria Hancock, the lead investigator in the case, testified during questioning that the bullets looked “similar” to the dummy bullets found on the set of “Rust.” She said she tried to reach Teske for a further interview, but he did not return her calls.

After a recess, Morrissey called herself as a witness in a remarkably unusual situation. She said she had previously received a photo from Teske of several live rounds and had determined that they did not resemble those on the set of “Rust,” and when he brought the box of ammunition to the sheriff’s office in March, she believed they resembled those in the photo.

Spiro, the defense attorney, then questioned her sharply, giving evidence about her colleague’s firing and her personal feelings toward Baldwin.

“I appreciate his movies. I appreciate the acting he did on Saturday Night Live, and I really appreciate his politics,” she said.

Outside court after the dismissal, Morrissey said she was disappointed with the decision, arguing there was no evidence linking the ammunition to Hutchins’ death.

“I understand that the court disagrees with me, and I respect the court’s decision,” she said. “I think people can disagree. I’m disappointed because I believe the weight of the evidence was misinterpreted by the defense attorneys, but I have to respect the court’s decision.”

She said she doesn’t believe they abandoned Hutchins’ family.

“We have done everything we can to bring justice to Halyna and her family and we are proud of the work we have done,” she said.

How we got here

Hutchins’ shocking on-set death was the first of its kind since the 1993 death of actor Brandon Lee, who was killed during the filming of “The Crow” when his co-star fired a prop gun that contained a bullet fragment.

Originally from Ukraine, Hutchins was a journalist who later became a promising camerawoman. She worked as an investigative journalist on British documentary productions in Europe, making documentaries for the BBC and Discovery.

She lived in New York City, where she discovered her love of photography, before moving to Los Angeles. After taking a UCLA extension course in directing, Hutchins soon discovered that she enjoyed cinematography more than directing, according to an interview for “Why Women Are Excelling in Hollywood” posted to YouTube months before her death.

CNN’s Julia Vargas Jones, Jack Hannah and Lisa Respers France contributed to this report.

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