Judge Dismisses Charges Against Alec Baldwin in Rust Case Due to Evidence Withholding

A United States judge has dismissed the involuntary manslaughter case against Hollywood actor Alec Baldwin after finding that the state had withheld evidence on how live rounds ended up on a film set where a cinematographer was fatally shot.

The case, which took place in Santa Fe, New Mexico state, came to a dramatic end after Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer threw out the case based on the misconduct of police and prosecutors over the withholding of evidence in the 2021 shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of the film Rust.

The judge ruled that the late discovery of crucial evidence during the trial had impeded the effective use of evidence, impacting the fundamental fairness of the proceedings and displaying signs of bad faith or near-bad faith.

As a result, the case cannot be filed again, bringing to a close the criminal culpability of Baldwin, 66, following the tragic incident that occurred during the filming of Rust.

Breaking down in tears, the multiple Emmy Award-winning actor embraced his wife Hilaria Baldwin, who was present in the public gallery along with other family members.

Baldwin’s lawyer, Alex Spiro, highlighted that the Santa Fe sheriff’s office failed to disclose the existence of live rounds in the investigation file related to the case, exposing significant misconduct.

Notably, the incident was Hollywood’s first on-set shooting in nearly 30 years, involving a revolver pointed by Baldwin at Hutchins during a rehearsal, which went off due to a .45 calibre round inadvertently loaded by the film’s armourer, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed.

Baldwin and other producers still face civil lawsuits from Hutchins’s family and crew members, adding complexity to the aftermath of the tragic shooting.