Alec Baldwin weeps in court as judge dismisses manslaughter case against actor after fatal shooting on film set
13 July 2024, 00:23 | Updated: 13 July 2024, 06:55
The judge at the actor Alec Baldwin’s involuntary manslaughter trial - following the killing of a cinematographer on a film set during 2021 - has dismissed the case.
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District Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer agreed with defence attorneys who argued prosecutors hid evidence about ammunition which could have been linked to the fatal shooting of cinematographer on the set of the Western film 'Rust'.
Halyna Hutchins was shot dead on the set back in 2021.
Mr Baldwin's trial in Santa Fe collapsed after just three days, at a court just miles where Ms Hutchins was shot with a revolver that the actor was using in rehearsals.
He wept in court as the announcement was made before embracing with family members.
It is the second time the case against Mr Baldwin has been dismissed since the October 2021 shooting. He will not be tried again.
The indictment accused Mr Baldwin of involuntary manslaughter through negligent use of a firearm, and an alternative charge of involuntary manslaughter "without due caution or circumspection".
The 66-year-old actor had pleaded not guilty.
He claims that he was not aware the revolver contained a live round and that it discharged accidentally after he followed instructions to point it toward Hutchins.
The filming of Rust resumed last year in Montana, under an agreement with the cinematographer's widower Matthew Hutchins that made him an executive producer.
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Earlier this year, the film's weapons supervisor Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, 26, was jailed for 18 months after being found guilty of involuntary manslaughter.
She had pleaded not guilty, but was found to have allowed a live bullet to get into the gun through negligence. Mr Baldwin then used the gun to accidentally shoot dead Ms Hutchins and wound director Joel Souza.
She was found guilty of manslaughter but not of evidence tampering, after the jury deliberated for two hours.Ms Hutchins's family spoke out after Gutierrez-Reed's guilty verdict was delivered in March, calling for "everyone who is responsible for Halyna’s death to be held accountable".
Hutchins was considered a rising star in film photography when she was killed at age 42.
She was the mother of a young son who grew up on a remote Soviet military base and worked on documentary films in Eastern Europe before studying film in Los Angeles and embarking on a movie-making career.
