Actor Alec Baldwin weeps in court after manslaughter charges against him were dropped.

In a surprise move late Friday afternoon, the judge presiding over the Alec Baldwin manslaughter trial dismissed the charges against the actor.

Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer dismissed the charges with prejudice, meaning Baldwin cannot be tried again for the killing of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of the movie Rust back in 2021. “There is no way for the court to right this wrong,” Judge Sommer said in dismissing the charges.

Baldwin had been charged with involuntary manslaughter in the shooting of Hutchins, a charge the movie’s armorer, Hanna Guiterrez-Reed, was found guilty of back in March and sentenced to 18 months in prison. Hutchins was killed in October 2021 when Baldwin pointed a “prop gun” at Hutchins and pulled the trigger. The shot also injured the film’s director, Joel Souza.

According to numerous reports, Baldwin sobbed openly upon the judge’s surprise pronouncement.

The dismissal came after things went south for prosecutors during the proceedings on Friday. Long story short, the judge learned that the prosecution had failed to disclose some ammunition as evidence, which it was required to do.

“They buried it,” Luke Nikas, Baldwin’s lawyer said in court. “They put it under a different case with a different number.”

Earlier in the trial, prosecutors had painted Baldwin as a reckless person with little care for any of the tenants of safe gun handling.

“The defendant takes [the gun] out quickly the first time pointed—and you will hear witness testimony who will tell you the first time he does it his finger is on or around the trigger,” Special Prosecutor Erlinda Johnson told the jury. “He does it again. Takes it out very fast, points it, and once again you will hear testimony that his finger was on or around the trigger. And the evidence will

In the end, it was instead the prosecution’s reckless managing of evidence that resulted in dismissal of the case. Had Baldwin been convicted of the charge, he could have faced up to 18 months in prison, the same sentence handed to Guiterrez-Reed.

While criminal charges related to the matter cannot be brought back against the actor, there remains a tangle of civil suits in which the actor, his production company and insurance companies are still litigating.

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82 COMMENTS

    • “The prosecution gave him a pass.”

      No, they flat blew it by deliberately mis-handling late-arriving rather questionable evidence.

      The whole way the ‘evidence’ arrived was strange, it left me with the impression the armorer’s father. Thell Reed and the the ammunition supplier (the messy ammo ‘warehouse’ seen in trial pics) kinda staged how it would be presented at the trial of Baldwin.

      Either way, it was utterly sim-handled by the sheriff’s office evidence room and prosecutor. They really deserved to lose the case…

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      • So, the mystery sack of .45 Colt loaded up in Starline cases finally reappeared ? That’s what the dummy loads were also loaded in, except they had brass colored rather than nickel primers in the live ammo – this was all brought up at the armorer’s trial, as we told Miner’s new ” fppf ” moniker days ago. Guitarrez – Reed will surely be getting a new trial or a prison release soon. Too bad that the prick Baldwin is walking… the fault is ultimately that he was too cheap to hire for the two positions that were required for armorer/handler.

          • muckraker,

            “If Baldwin is smart . . . ” Yeah, where’s your evidence for THAT questionable proposition?? Alec Baldwin is the epitome of a stupid, arrogant, self-important Hollyweird douche canoe.

            He skated because the prosecutors were one or more of (i) sloppy, (ii) lazy, (iii) dishonest, and/or (iv) WANTED to lose. All the idjits in Hollyweird spout their anti-2A nonsense . . . and make millions off of movies that feature guns. Like MajorLiar, they are hypocrites, actually, even MORE like MajorLiar, they are stupid hypocrites.

            He’s a big Dim donor, and a darling of the Hollyweird celebrity set; he’ll walk away from this just fine. There should be an investigation into the prosecution, but there probably won’t be. AB is guilty as sin, but I doubt there will be any consequences.

        • I like how she was extremely elusive in typical lawyer fashion except when it came to letting everyone know that she’s a Trump-hating lib. She had a reason for doing that. It helps them in the justice system.

      • great comments geoff! i had similar feelings about this. i’m still not understanding when and where this new evidence came from or even what it was. i found it suspicious too. like could baldwin’s lawyers have hired someone to send some weird evidence to investigators that was so far removed from the case they file is away separately. then during trial baldwin’s lawyers ask about it and they find it.

        • Oh look, a totally anonymous commentator without the balls to identify itself.

          Go fuck yourself, ‘fppf’. 🙁

        • This. He didn’t check the pistol or its ammo. He cocked the hammer, pointed it at Halyna and pulled the trigger. What does some box of ammo sitting in Arizona that is dropped off at the sheriffs office three months later, in New Mexico, after the incident have to do with that? Nothing.

      • I agree, it was a planned strategy and the defense followed the evidence. It worked.

    • One wonders if it was a deliberate screwup to let him walk. He is still a murderer who got off on a technicality.

    • Did anyone think that Baldwin would actually go to jail over this?

      All he had to do was plead “celebrity”.

      • “All he had to do was plead “celebrity”.”

        *Numerous* celebrities have been imprisoned, dude…

        • What did this box of ammo have to do with what happened? I mean , like, any more than any other box of ammo.

  2. Not surprising. The entire state of New Mexico is the poster child for diversity hires. Incompetence is endemic.

  3. I wonder if the armorer will get her conviction overturned due to the prosecution not disclosing the evidence. At least it should be a valid appeal reason.

  4. Prosecutorial misconduct, multiple Brady violations required meaningful sanctions, dismissal was appropriate.

    Next step, civil lawsuits against Alec Baldwin as producer.

    That may have a rough way to go without a conviction, Baldwin was just one of 11 producers. Baldwin’s contributions were limited to dialog, and selection of actors – not set operation.

    • minor49iq…There is only one person that should have been thrown under the bus and ran over and that person is alec baldwin.

    • How is dismissing the case with prejudice a meaningful sanction against the prosecutor? If the prosecutor fouled up, then the courts should apply meaningful sanctions against the prosecutor rather than letting an accused murderer walk away Scott-free without facing a proper trial and jury verdict. This judge DENIED justice for Mrs. Hutchins.

      Baldwin screwed over Mrs. Hutchins. Now the Courts have screwed her over as well.

      • “letting an accused murderer walk away Scott-free“

        First, he was not charged with murder, there was no criminal intent or premeditation shown. That’s why they charged him with manslaughter.

        Number two, I’m surprised you would be in support of law enforcement and prosecutorial misconduct, a clear violation of due process as guaranteed by the Constitution.

        • Miner49er,

          Notice the words in my above comment, “rather than letting an accused murderer walk away Scott-free without facing a proper trial and jury verdict.”

          My words show that I want the accused to face a “proper trial and jury verdict” which shows that I do NOT favor violating Mr. Baldwin’s due process rights. Rather, the judge should have declared a mistrial and required a new trial with both the prosecution and defense handling evidence appropriately.

          That way, the courts can sanction the prosecutor, protect Mr. Baldwin’s due process rights, and provide true justice for Mrs. Hutchins.

          As for my choice of words “accused murderer”, we can correct that to “accused negligent homicide perpetrator”. Although it is entirely possible that the trial may have revealed criminal intent. Of course we will never know since the judge ended the case without any possible way to revisit it.

          • “the judge ended the case“

            Actually, the prosecution ended the case with their egregious Brady violations.

            “the judge should have declared a mistrial“

            A simple mistrial? So you don’t think the prosecution should be held accountable for concealing exculpatory evidence from the defense, thereby compromising Alec Baldwin’s constitutional right to due process?

            Amazing, the prosecutor got caught violating a defendant’s constitutional rights and you think they should get a free ‘do-over’.

            It seems many of you want to “worry about due process later”… where have I heard that before?

            Oh yeah, King Donald:

            “I think we should take the guns first and worry about due process latter”

    • MajorLiar,

      Do the name “OJ Simpson” strike a familiar note, you mouth-breathing quarter-wit????

      Not sure the Browns ever collected much from the murdering misogynist, but a civil jury seemed to have NO problem finding him civilly liable, WITHOUT a criminal conviction (“standard of proof”, MajorIdiot; learn it). Please spare us your ‘wisdom’ on matters of law; you know less about law than you do about the Constitution, or firearms. (Or religion, or science, or philosophy, or rhetoric, or debate . . . wait. Just what IS IT that you purport to know, MajorMistake??????)

      Sod off, Swampy.

    • Did you think Baldwin actually cares about “little people”? To him they are a resource to be used and discarded.

  6. I suggest he keep his mouth shut. And if he ever tries to sue someone for smearing him over this case. He will open himself up to “discovery.”

    Just as the Disney company is now finding out. When they fired “Kara Doon” from the Mandalorian TV series. The lawyers for actress Gina Carrano, are going to have a field day. Going through the email history of the disney corporation.

    Alec Baldwin is like OJ Simpson. He got away with murder too. But I believe Alec Baldwin like OJ., has no self-control. And eventually he will end up in jail. Just like O.J. did for some other crime.

  7. I’ve been saying on TTAG for years now. Government prosecutors are not telling the truth.They violate the civil rights of the accused all the time.

    It’s been done to President Trump. And the usual loud mouths who accuse the police of being liars all the time. Are quite as a church mouse. When it comes to holding corrupt/incompetent government lawyers accountable.

    • it’s an interesting point! many posters here are very pro-le hawks and always side with the police against the alleged perps.

      • There are also many posters here who claim they hate cops. But then chear the arrest of a property owner who uses deadly force, to protect what is theirs.

        And they say nothing when government agents kill to protect government property.

  8. Meanwhile another person does time for his complete and utter failure to determine the firearm safe. One Armorer or a dozen Armorers any pathetic self serving dumbsht who fails to verify the firearm in their hands is Safe and proceeds to point that firearm at another person and pull the trigger was and is an accident waiting to happen…Case in point: alec baldwin.

    • “Meanwhile another person does time for his complete and utter failure to determine the firearm safe.”

      She *personally* loaded the live ammo int the gun that killed the cinematographer and handed it to someone else while saying “Cold gun.”

      She deserved her sentence…

  11. Well at least AB spent a truckload of money on lawyers.
    If you find yourself in similar situation hope for a break like this.

    • Eh I wasn’t surprised Baldwin got off. I wouldn’t be shocked to find a message from on high suggesting “go EZ on Alec. No hollyweird types wanna shoot a show here”. Oh yeah he’s got 7 kids who need an elderly daddy😀

  12. Would it not be hilarious if it was discovered that Baldwin had possessed that ammunition on the set and had substituted ammo with bullets for blancs before intentionally squeezing the trigger?
    Motive?
    Maybe Baldwin was having an affair with Ms Hutchins who was then threatening his marriage or extorting money?

    The point is that one can literally get away with murder in New Mexico.

  13. I would say “Rest In Peace, Halyna” – but I am not sure she would want to hear it – even if she could…

  14. The wheel turns, Karma will not let this one get away without his day of reckoning.

    • Nikita,

      My sense of justice hopes you are right; my sense of reality thinks you are wrong. The scumbag is going to walk. He MIGHT face some civil liability, but . . . he’s one of the Hollyweird elite, so my guess is that he’ll buy off most potential plaintiffs with money and NDAs. How long did Harvey Weinstein continue his depredations when EVERYONE in Hollywood knew he was a rapist scumbag???

  16. It’s amazing what giving money to the Democrat Party can do for a guy’s ability to elude justice.

  17. For a very high profile trial and person, they really fucked up. You’d think they would be very strict in every piece of evidence, follow every rule, have things be order and proper because of the lens their under. This is the kind of professionalism there is. and we wonder why innocent people are in jail.

    of point, if HE and everyone around him thought the guns were safe, who’s responsible to have them that way, hmm.

    • Let me get this straight….you are expecting competency from today’s government workers?
      There hasn’t been a layoff of any government workers anywhere for the past 40 years.
      It’s a cesspool of stupidity and laziness.

  20. Somebody needs to report this prosecutor under a Red Flag law. Their ongoing pattern of shooting themselves in the d*ck proves they’re a danger to themselves.

  21. The fact remains he is still a murderer in most peoples eyes. He can never change that, and it will haunt him for the rest of his life. It’s a life sentence.

  22. “… it was … the prosecution’s reckless managing of evidence that resulted in dismissal of the case.”

    I wonder how much cash Baldwin had to hand over to the Prosecutor to persuade her to mishandle evidence?

    • remember there have been multiple prosecutors assigned to this case. If there was a fix it may have been put in with an earlier prosecutor . It may not have been money but a better paying job outside of NM.

  23. Journalism and literacy are dead.
    prosecutors had painted Baldwin as a reckless person with little care for any of the tenants of safe gun handling.

    TENETS, not “tenants.”

    In another article (not here), I saw the judge quoted as, “There is no way for the court to WRITE this wrong.” BARF!

    How often I see it reported that someone “flaunted the law.” It’s FLOUTED!

    Pathetic. There is no excuse for such poor writing. Auto-correct / spell-check is no excuse. Editing, folks. Editing.

    • You make an excellent point.
      Unfortunately; we live in an age when most writing is performed using word processors. Most word processors have spelling checker features. In recent years these programs have become overly assertive. I often find my writing edited by a computer program that insists on substituting a word that is more common for the properly spelled word that I had typed.

      It will not be long before these word processors begin to edit out an censor any writing that is politically incorrect.

      • Nope. Sorry. That sad excuse doesn’t work. I’ve been writing (and published) for decades on word processors. I understand how spell-check / auto-correct work. I also understand the role of proof-reading and the role of editors. So, for this to happen, failures on multiple levels have to occur.

  25. So you can literally walk away with murder if you just say “oopsie” and have rich friends and the correct political views.

  27. Alec Baldwin was not responsible for Halyna Hutchins death. It was the armorer’s. Could he have prevented it? Of course he could have.
    Let the hate begin.

  28. muckraker: Alec Baldwin was not held accountable/responsible by the court for Halyna Hutchins death.

  29. I have never heard how many “real” rounds were in the gun.
    If it were a setup, the odds were only 1 in 6 that he would get a live round if only one round was real. That would seem to require that the real round be chambered.
    If there was only one live round, Mr. Baldwin was unlucky unless set up. He had best not play Russian roulette in the future.
    If this was a setup, the case is now likely buried forever.

  31. Nobody has offered to explain why this evidence was germane to the trial. Not the media, not law enforcement or the judge.

Comments are closed.