Alec Baldwin broke into tears as a New Mexico judge dismissed manslaughter charges over the shooting death of Halyna Hutchins on the set of his film Rust.
The dismissal came three days into Baldwin’s trial in Santa Fe, at a court just miles from the Western film set where Ms Hutchins, a cinematographer, was shot with a revolver Mr Baldwin was using in rehearsals.
His lawyers alleged police hid evidence of the source of the live round that killed her. It is the second time the case against the actor has been dismissed since the October 2021 shooting.
A key aspect of the case has been how live ammunition ended up on the film set and Mr Baldwin’s lawyers have questioned the investigation and mistakes made by authorities who processed the scene.
The motion set off a remarkable set of events with one of the two special prosecutors leading the case resigning, and Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer dismissing the jury so she could hear from multiple witnesses.
The bullets, Mr Baldwin’s lawyer said, could be related to Hutchins’ death but were filed in a different case with a different number.
Prosecutors argued the ammunition was not connected to the case and did not match bullets found on the Rust set.
Mr Baldwin broke into tears as the judge read from a lengthy statement detailing her reasons for the dismissal. His wife, Hilaria, covered his mouth. Other members of his family cried and smiled.
Judge Sommer said that even if this evidence was not critical or relevant to the case, it is required that it should have been given to the defence.
“The state’s wilful withholding of this information was intentional and deliberate,” she said from the bench. “There is no way for the court to right this wrong.”
The evidence came to light on Thursday, when a crime-scene technician said in evidence that a man named Troy Teske, a retired police officer, had turned over live ammunition that could be related to the case.
Mr Teske is friends with the step-father of Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, the film’s armourer who was convicted of involuntary manslaughter earlier this year.
He was working with Seth Kenney, who helped with props on the film set.
In 2023, prosecutors in the case dismissed an involuntary manslaughter charge against Mr Baldwin, saying they had new evidence and needed more time to investigate. They refiled that charge in January.
