The Alec Baldwin trial came to a dramatic end on Friday, setting the A-lister free after shooting and killing cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of “Rust.”
Alec Baldwin was the co-producer and star of a western movie called “Rust,” which was in the process of being filmed in Santa Fe, New Mexico. During a filming of a scene Baldwin pointed a gun at the camera. Unbeknownst to the actor, the firearm was loaded with a live round. The live round discharged, hitting and killing Hutchins. Baldwin claimed he did not pull the trigger on the revolver, but prosecutors argued he did exactly that. Mr. Baldwin would be charged with involuntary manslaughter.
The set of “Rust” was plagued with safety concerns from the crew. According to New Mexico’s Occupational Health and Safety Bureau, numerous safety violations existed on the set. The Bureau stated that production managers took limited or no action when there were two misfires of blank ammunition before the fatal accident. They also said the production staff dismissed the crew’s safety concerns about firearms handling. The production staff also banned the weapons specialists on set from making decisions on additional safety training.
The case ended when the judge dismissed the charges against Baldwin with prejudice, meaning he could not be tried again. Mr. Baldwin hugged his attornies with tears in his eyes. There were audible gasps from the gallery as the judge made her decision. Still, his hands might have been tied due to allegations that the prosecution hid exculpatory evidence from the defense.
The alleged hidden evidence was rounds from the “Rust” set. Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office crime scene technician Marissa Poppell testified under cross-examination that a “good Samaritan” turned over the ammunition to investigators. The “good Samaritan” who handed in Colt .45 rounds is believed to be Troy Teske. Mr. Teske is a good friend of Thell Reed, the stepfather of “Rust” armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed. Ms. Gutierrez-Reed was convicted of involuntary manslaughter and is serving 18 months behind bars.
The Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office consulted with lead prosecutor Kari Morrissey about the ammunition. The Sheriff’s Office and Morrissey decided to file the ammunition under a separate case number, effectively putting them out of reach by the defense. In an unusual move, Ms. Morrissey called herself to the stand to address the allegations. She admitted that the rounds were booked into evidence under a different case number but insisted it wasn’t to hide evidence. She emphasized that the ammo was not linked to the case against Baldwin.
Alec Baldwin’s ‘Rust’ criminal trial was a ‘comedy of errors,’ legal expert says https://t.co/FY9iNTDBSE
— Fox News Entertainment (@FoxNewsEnt) July 15, 2024
Mr. Baldwin’s attorneys insisted that Morrissey was not responsible for deciding whether the ammunition was essential to the case, and the evidence should have been turned over to the defense. The defense asked the judge to dismiss the case due to the mishandling of evidence. The judge felt her hands were tied, so she dismissed the case with prejudice, meaning it could not be retried.
“There is no way for the court to right this wrong,” said 1st Judicial District Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer. “The sanction of dismissal is the only warranted remedy.”
Ms. Morrissey was defiant after the case. She believes the defense attorneys exploited the missing rounds to get the case thrown out but did say she respects the judge’s decision.
“I believe the importance of the evidence was misconstrued by the defense attorneys,” Morrissey told reporters outside court.
In an interview with Deadline, Halyna Hutchins’ widower, Matthew Hutchins, through attorney Brian J. Parish, said he respects the court’s decision but wants to see the 66-year-old actor held accountable for his actions. Mr. Parish hinted that further actions would be taken against Baldwin in a civil case.
“We respect the court’s decision,” Brian J. Parish said. “We look forward to presenting all the evidence to a jury and holding Mr. Baldwin accountable for his actions in the senseless death of Halyna Hutchins.”
Alec Baldwin thanked everyone who supported him throughout the case. Some of the Hollywood elites openly supported Baldwin, including former CNN host Don Lemon, Amy Sedaris, and actor Anthony Hopkins.
“There are too many people who have supported me to thank just now,” Baldwin said. “To all of you, you will never know how much I appreciate your kindness toward my family.”
Mr. Baldwin celebrated Friday night in Santa Fe at a local restaurant with his brother Stephen and an entourage of others.
About John Crump
John is an NRA instructor and a constitutional activist. John has written about firearms, interviewed people of all walks of life, and on the Constitution. Mr. Crump lives in Northern Virginia with his wife and sons and can be followed on Twitter at @crumpyss, or at www.crumpy.com.
I said this ass would walk free and the prosecutor made sure to purposely provide the excuse for him to get off on a technicality. The prosecutor should lose his license and be disbarred, the judge should be reprimanded and the people should protest that there needs to be a new trial so justice can be served and a review done on the judges decision. I smell set up!!!!
This is the equal justice under the law that ObiDUMB refers to.
Trump 2024
Baldwin pulled the trigger and killed a women and yet he is not responsible due to a technicality . It appears he was going to walk scott free from the beginning . This is a complete miscarriage of justice . Something stinks of corruption here to me and it appears somebody got paid .
I wonder how much he paid the prosecutor for fucking up this trial?
I hope the family sues him into bankruptcy!
The guy is certainly loud and boring sometimes, but everybody knew he didn’t mean to shoot anybody. He lived his entire life in midtown Manhattan. Generations of liberals live there without anybody even once touching a firearm. Note: Rifle range instructors on Parris Island have notoriously struggled with recruits and draftees from NYC. During Vietnam, many New Yorkers were run through the rifle school with consecutive failures. But anybody that spends 8 weeks on the rifle range had to have learned something so the command just passed um’ anyway. Alec Baldwin bungling with a firearm makes perfect sense.
so, this gun hating psychotic got off on murdering another person because of his carelessness and stupidity? so much for our two-tiered justice system holding the guilty accountable.
Baldwin in a split second changed the lives of many his actions were his alone. He picked up the weapon that act his and only his. The judge the courts applied two different types of justice. The A list actor who’s hate speech against Trump who’s actions against his own daughter have shown who this man really is. Not a big surprise he remains free.
Did Baldwin kill her on purpose? Of course not? Was his actions extremely poor judgement, yes. So the involuntary manslaughter charges appropriate for his guilt? YES. The clown should be in jail, not just because he pulled the trigger, but because he was the one ultimately responsible for not checking the firearm.
AHHH YESSSS! The DemoKKKrats’ TWO TIER JUDICIAL AT WORK protecting the Benjamin$$$$$$ of an elite that is in the protected “class”!!!
Prosecutorial misconduct is rampant in our legal system. Rampant. This disease stems from the War on Drugs and was fueled by the War on Everything (Tear) un-Patriot acts. There are no consequences for prosecutors who play games with evidence and testimony and that is why we have lots of innocent people in prison and a lot of guilty people walk. Until prosecutors like Jack Smith start losing their bar cards and facing real consequences this will continue and this disease will continue to corrupt our criminal justice system. Handling evidence and the chain of custody is serious business. In the… Read more »