Alec Baldwin broke into tears as a New Mexico judge dismissed the involuntary manslaughter case against him for a fatal shooting on the set of the film Rust.
The dismissal came three days into Baldwin’s trial in Santa Fe, at a court just miles from where Halyna Hutchins, a cinematographer, was shot with a revolver Mr Baldwin was using in rehearsals.
It is the second time the case against the actor has been dismissed since the October 2021 shooting. He will not be tried again.
His lawyers alleged police and prosecutors hid evidence – a batch of bullets – that could have been connected to the shooting on set.
A key aspect of the case has been how live ammunition ended up on the set and Mr Baldwin’s lawyers have questioned the investigation and mistakes made by authorities who processed the scene.
Their motion to dismiss set off a remarkable set of events, with one of the two special prosecutors leading the case resigning, and Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer dismissing the jury to hear from multiple witnesses.
The bullets, Mr Baldwin’s lawyer said, could be related to Hutchins’ death but were filed in a different case with a different number.
Prosecutors argued the ammunition was not connected to the case and did not match bullets found on the Rust set.
The judge ruled, however, that they should have been shared with Mr Baldwin’s defence team.
“The state’s wilful withholding of this information was intentional and deliberate,” she said from the bench. “There is no way for the court to right this wrong.”
Prosecutors will not be able to lodge the charge against Baldwin again, as the judge did not rule the case a mistrial but instead outright dismissed it with prejudice.
“It was the nuclear option. The case is over,” Los Angeles criminal defence lawyer Joshua Ritter told the BBC.
