The judge in the Baldwin involuntary manslaughter case dismissed the criminal charge after discovering the extent of an alleged effort to conceal potential evidence.
The spectacular collapse of New Mexico’s criminal prosecution of Alec Baldwin in the deadly “Rust” movie shooting laid bare nearly three years of errors by state officials who were eager to prove themselves on a world stage.
Legal experts had long said it was a risk to charge Baldwin with involuntary manslaughter, a felony, for the 2021 death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, whom the actor accidentally shot while preparing for a scene with a firearm. Baldwin had been told — incorrectly — that his prop gun contained no actual ammunition.
New Mexico First Judicial District Court Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer threw out Baldwin’s charges late Friday following a day-long hearing in which defense attorneys alleged Santa Fe County deputies and a special prosecutor concealed potential evidence — a bag of bullets an Arizona retired police officer turned in after the incident — that may have proved helpful to Baldwin’s case.
“If this conduct does not rise to the level of bad faith, it certainly comes so near to bad faith to show signs of scorching,” Marlowe Sommer said, directing her scorn at prosecutor Kari T. Morrissey.
Baldwin, who had been facing an 18-month prison sentence if convicted, sobbed as he heard the decision.
Legal experts were stunned at what they said was the prosecution’s botching of the case. “What a catastrophic end to this case for the special prosecutor,” said Santa Fe attorney John Day, who was not involved in the case. “It was a disaster — a complete train wreck.”
Three days into the trial, Baldwin’s high-powered legal team had successfully steered the case away from issues Morrissey wanted to explore, including evidence Baldwin may have pulled the trigger. They focused on an investigation that failed to answer a central question in the “Rust” shoooting: Where did the live rounds originate?
The Baldwin criminal case may have been doomed from the start.
Santa Fe County sheriff’s deputies arriving at western movie location Bonanza Creek Ranch near Santa Fe on Oct. 21, 2021, were rattled by the mayhem. Two victims lay bleeding on the floor of an old wooden church, Hutchins and director Joel Souza. Armorer Hannah Gutierrez Reed appeared to be having a panic attack. Baldwin declined a deputy’s invitation to sit in a patrol car, saying he was smoking a cigarette.
Law enforcement officers were gobsmacked: How could two people filming a movie be shot with a prop gun held by one of Hollywood’s most famous actors?
As journalists from around the world descended on Santa Fe, the sheriff and district attorney projected swagger. The sheriff was preparing for a reelection fight. At a news conference six days after the shooting, Dist. Atty. Mary Carmack-Altwies was asked whether Baldwin might be charged. “All options are on the table,” she told the crowd.
Pressure quickly mounted after Baldwin anchor George Stephanopoulos that he didn’t pull the trigger. Gun enthusiasts howled, saying that gun model doesn’t fire on its own.
By year’s end, sheriff’s detectives had made mistakes that would haunt the case.
The movie’s prop master threw bullets from other actors’ weapons into the trash. The “Rust” prop truck, which held guns and ammunition, wasn’t searched for nearly a week. And it took another month before detectives showed up with a warrant at the Albuquerque prop house of weapons and ammunition provider, Seth Kenney.
The deputies found the military green ammo box they were looking for — Thell Reed, the armorer’s father, told investigators it contained live bullets that may have been the same batch as those on “Rust” — but it was empty.
