Santa Fe Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer dismissed the involuntary manslaughter case against actor Alec Baldwin on Friday after ruling the prosecutors hid evidence from Baldwin’s defense team.
The ruling came on the third day of the trial in New Mexico’s First Judicial District Court after Baldwin attorney Luke Nikas accused prosecutors of deliberately withholding bullets that were turned over to investigators earlier this year.
Sommer said that the state was “highly culpable for its failure to provide discovery to the defendant” and that dismissal with prejudice was warranted.
“The late discovery of this evidence has impacted the fundamental fairness of the proceedings,” she said. “There is no way for the court to right this wrong. The sanction of dismissal is the only warranted remedy.”
Baldwin had faced up to 18 months in prison if convicted of involuntary manslaughter after a firearm that he was rehearsing with in 2021 on a film set fired a live round that killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.
Sommer put on blue latex gloves, cut open a manilla envelope that contained the bullets, and looked at the previously unexamined evidence.
BREAKING: Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer dismissed the ‘Rust’ moving shooting case with prejudice against #AlecBaldwin. When Baldwin heard her ruling, he started to sob and later hugged his family. Baldwin was facing an involuntary manslaughter charge. pic.twitter.com/v9gfv2xd92
— Law&Crime Network (@LawCrimeNetwork) July 12, 2024
Nikas claimed that prosecutors intentionally “buried” the evidence by putting it “under a different case with a different number.”
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