Judge confirms dismissal of involuntary manslaughter charge against Alec Baldwin

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — A New Mexico judge upheld her decision to dismiss a manslaughter charge against Alec Baldwin in the shooting death of a cinematographer on the set of a Western movie.

In a ruling Thursday, state District Court Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer upheld her July decision to dismiss an involuntary manslaughter charge against Baldwin. He said prosecutors did not raise any factual or legal arguments that justified overturning their decision.

The case was dismissed mid-trial over allegations that police and prosecutors withheld evidence from the defense in the 2021 death. director of photography Halyna Hutchins on the set of the movie “Rust”.

Baldwin’s trial was upended by revelations that a man brought ammunition to the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office in March and said it could be linked to Hutchins’ murder. Prosecutors said they considered the ammunition unrelated and unimportant, while Baldwin’s attorneys say investigators “buried” the evidence in a separate file and filed a successful motion to dismiss the case.

Special prosecutor Kari Morrissey can now decide whether to appeal to a higher court.

Baldwin, the lead actor and co-producer of “Rust,” was pointing a gun at Hutchins during a rehearsal for a film set outside Santa Fe in October 2021, when the revolver went off, killing Hutchins and wounding director Joel Souza. Baldwin has said that he pulled the hammer, but not the trigger, and the revolver fired.

A judge sentenced in April film weapons supervisor Hannah Gutiérrez-Reed up to a maximum of 1.5 years in a state penitentiary for a manslaughter conviction in Hutchins’ death.

Gutierrez-Reed also asked Judge Marlowe Sommer to throw out his manslaughter conviction or hold a new trial over allegations that prosecutors failed to share evidence that could have been exculpatory.