AP reports: “A nearly three-year legal saga for Alec Baldwin in the fatal shooting of a cinematographer ended Friday without a verdict but with tears of relief for the actor and a small coterie of family who had settled into a somber daily routine on wooden benches inside a windowless New Mexico courtroom at trial.”
The trial collapsed three days into Baldwin’s trial in Santa Fe, at a court just miles from where Halyna Hutchins, a cinematographer, was fatally shot with a revolver that Mr Baldwin was using in rehearsals. It is the second time the case against the actor has been dismissed since the October 2021 shooting. He will not be tried again. (BBC)
Prosecutors said Baldwin violated the cardinal rules of firearm safety in pointing a real gun toward Hutchins on set. Defense attorneys argued Baldwin was just doing his job as an actor, reasonably relying on other professionals to ensure gun safety.
According to BBC, “A key aspect of the case has been how live ammunition ended up on the set, and Mr Baldwin’s lawyers have questioned the investigation and mistakes made by authorities who processed the scene. Their motion to dismiss sparked a remarkable set of events, with one of the two special prosecutors leading the case resigning, and Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer dismissing the jury to hear from multiple witnesses. ”
At issue were bullets turned in to prosecutors after the fact, and never given to the Defense as part of Discovery. The bullets, Mr Baldwin’s lawyer said, could be related to Ms 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. The judge ruled, however, that they should have been shared with Mr Baldwin’s defence team regardless.
“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.”