https://www.nbcnews.com/news/u...sses-case-rcna161536

SANTE FE, New Mexico — In a stunning turn of events, the judge in Alec Baldwin’s involuntary manslaughter trial dismissed the case Friday, siding with defense attorneys who argued that prosecutors hid evidence about ammunition that may be linked to the fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of the Western movie “Rust” in 2021.

“The sanction of dismissal is the only warranted remedy” in the case, said First Judicial District Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer.

Baldwin, 66, sobbed and put his face in his hands as Sommer announced her decision."

O. J. Baldwin

Unreal.

A Santa Fe judge Friday dismissed the involuntary manslaughter case against Alec Baldwin for the fatal shooting of Halyna Hutchins on the set of the film "Rust" after ruling that the prosecution concealed evidence from his legal team.

The third full day of the trial in the First Judicial District Court opened with defense attorney Luke Nikas accusing the state of withholding evidence that prop distributor Seth Kenney was the source of the live ammunition.

The move prompted Santa Fe Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer to send the jury home so she could hold an 11th hour hearing, which led to lead prosecutor Kari Morrissey calling herself as a witness.

"I decided not to take any steps to collect this ammunition because it was in Arizona, had never come to New Mexico and didn't match the live rounds on the set of ‘Rust,'" Morrissey testified.

The defense team argued investigators and prosecutors concealed evidence related to the source of ammunition linked to the accidental shooting death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of the film "Rust" in 2021.

Armorer Hannah Gutierrez Reed was convicted of loading a live round into a revolver, which Baldwin fired, killing Hutchins and wounding director Joel Souza.

During her trial on March 6, retired police officer Troy Teske, a family friend of Gutierrez Reed's father, walked into the Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office and delivered a collection of rounds to crime scene technician Marissa Poppell.

He said the rounds came from Kenney and matched the bullet that killed Hutchins.

Poppell admitted Friday at the hearing that she didn't inventory the evidence from Teske under the "Rust" case, but instead under a different case number. The defense also didn't receive a supplemental report on the new evidence.

Santa Fe County Sheriff's Corporal Alexendria Hancock, the lead investigator on the case admitted this decision was made in consultation with prosecutors and her supervisors.

"Okay. So you, you all had discussions about what to do with what he dropped off?" asked Judge Marlowe Sommer.

"Yes," she replied.

"And you all agreed to put it in the separate file?" the judge pressed. "Yes," she answered. The evidence was also not stored with the other evidence for the case, she said.

Defense attorneys appeared to have learned about the ammunition Teske turned over from body camera footage that captured Teske walking into the sheriff's office and telling Poppell that he had critical evidence and offered to give a statement.

Morrissey told the court earlier in the day that the first time she saw the supplemental report, which was allegedly withheld from the defense, was that morning.

The stunning blow to the prosecution team, which had been working on the case for more than three years, arrived after the state had called only seven witnesses.

https://www.foxnews.com/entert...unning-victory-actor

still trying to understand this

prosecutor : the ammo didn't match live rounds on the set
retired officer Teske: said the rounds matched the bullet that killed Hutchins ???
Teske is friend of armorer's father
?????

I said earlier the prosecution was shit and they were. Withholding evidence is the kiss of death for any prosecution. Just poorly handled.

That doesn't give Baldwin the right to say he's innocent. He still killed her.

Well, they call it a technicality for a reason I guess.
And they cannot file charges again.
Shitshow and I didn't have any popcorn.

Un fucking believable

quote:

Originally posted by sigmoid:
Well, they call it a technicality for a reason I guess.
And they cannot file charges again.
Shitshow and I didn't have any popcorn.

The prosecution has an absolute duty to turn over exculpatory evidence. They don't get to decide whether the defense's use of it would make a difference.

I don't know how many cases are tossed because of burying evidence or not turning it over.

The DA always says, "I didn't turn it over because I didn't see it as exculpatory." That is the standard, everyday argument. It's a bad one.

Since Baldwin has already settled with her estate, he's done. There might be some other residual civil cases by people who saw him shoot her and they can proceed but at this stage, Baldwin will just settle with them to put it behind him.

If money didn’t buy this Jugde then why with several options did she dismiss with prejudice? Once again like it or not money buys justice and Judges.Alec Baldwin pointed a loaded gun at another human and pulled the trigger to kill her. Sorry but that is that…
Just tired of the rich and shameless getting away with buying the courts..
Mike

The Laurel and Hardy prosecution team needs to have their licenses reviewed for competence. Why did they need 3 years to prepare? Maybe they needed more time.

quote:

Originally posted by 126911:
If money didn’t buy this Jugde then why with several options did she dismiss with prejudice? Once again like it or not money buys justice and Judges.Alec Baldwin pointed a loaded gun at another human and pulled the trigger to kill her. Sorry but that is that…
Just tired of the rich and shameless getting away with buying the courts..
Mike

Put the tinfoil away.

Judges will first determine if the evidence was exculpatory or potentially so. In this case it was and both the police and the DA purposefully hid the evidence. On purpose, based the police employee testifying she was was told to hide it in a different case.

So once that determination was made, the court has to come up with a remedy. If you just give the ammo to the defense, it doesn't address or punish the misconduct by the DA and the PD. Remember that one of the DA's resigned today in the middle of the hearing because of how bad this is and I expect there will be quite bit of fallout too.

The court has to come up with a remedy for burying the evidence and the only correct one is to dismiss the case with prejudice. You can't reward the bad behavior and dismissing it without prejudice is just letting the DA off the hook to try Baldwin again.

The judge had no other choice since the DA and PD's actions were solely designed to make sure Baldwin didn't have a potential defense.

this has been a circus since day one...regardless of the severity of the crime a monied leftist get's a wide berth

Anyone still have any faith in what’s left of our Justice system?

Where is the Justice for the family?

the lead prosecutor didn't mention an appeal

The family already reached a civil settled with Baldwin.

If you mean justice as in conviction and incarceration, the family has to depend on the police and the prosecution. They were incompetent doing their jobs.

The court system would have provided an avenue for justice but the DA and PD fucked it up to the point that it couldn't be fixed.

quote:

Originally posted by nhtagmember:
Anyone still have any faith in what’s left of our Justice system?

Where is the Justice for the family?

If there was misconduct by the prosecution and the police, then I’m good with the result. Imagine if you were being prosecuted and the government was being dishonest with the evidence. You’d want the case dismissed too.

Sure Baldwin doesn’t do time and is free from further prosecution, but his reputation is toast. He still loses assets. His movie is tarnished. The attention guats like this crave will fade to black. And he can never haunt gun owners again with any credibility. I’ll take that win.

I do think if there was misconduct, someone ought to lose his job though.

Sorry for the tinfoil. I thought a clear killing was evident. The rest is just smoke and mirrors.
Buy a Flashlight…

He will be back in court. It will be for something else, but he will be back.

Fucking incompetent shitbags. They should serve the sentence that they couldn't tag him with.

I wonder if someone was paid to take a dive...

OZ