Alec Baldwin ‘Rust’ Trial OVER: Judge Dismisses Case Based On Suppressed Evidence

Friday, July 12, marked the third day of witness testimony in the Alec Baldwin “Rust” trial.

The “30 Rock” actor faces charges of involuntary manslaughter in connection with the October 2021 shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of the Western film. Armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter earlier this year and sentenced to a state maximum of 18 months behind bars.

Alec Baldwin’s “Rust” trial took an unexpected twist on Friday when the jury was dismissed after several hours of waiting. Baldwin’s team flagged the case as “incompetent” and alleged that the State of New Mexico concealed evidence ahead of the trial in a motion to dismiss filed late on Thursday night.

“Simply put, the State was provided highly exculpatory evidence that supports Baldwin’s argument of intervening cause; it also supports Baldwin’s case that the SFSO’s investigation was biased, improperly motivated, and incompetent, which the Court has already ruled is relevant and admissible,” said Thursday’s filing, which was obtained by Deadline. “Yet the State concealed that evidence from Baldwin, and then it misrepresented the evidence that it had collected. This conduct is egregious and requires dismissal.”

However, on Friday morning, Morrissey insisted “There has been no violation in our obligation as prosecutors.”

On Thursday night, Baldwin’s team became aware that a “good Samaritan” came into the Sheriff’s office a few weeks ago, after Hannah Gutierrez-Reed was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter and sentenced to 18 months behind bars. That “good Samaritan” turned out to be Arizona police officer Troy Teske, a close friend of Gutierrez-Reed’s father Thell Reed.

Although Baldwin’s legal team requested all of the information and files related to the shooting at the Bonanza Creek Ranch in October 2021, they claim that they were never notified about Teske or the bullets that he dropped off.

The motion to dismiss claims that “The SFSO and the State have concealed from Baldwin that there was evidence that the live round came from Seth Kenney, a known person of interest and supplier of ammunition to the Rust set.”

Although the State has not accused Baldwin of bringing live rounds onto the set, it is possible that the lack of disclosure around this new evidence will be enough to get the case thrown out.

Around 3 PM ET, during the pre-trial motion, Seth Kenney took to the stand to talk about his role in supplying ammunition for “Rust” and other films. Kenney had been friends with Thell Reed, the father of Hannah Gutierrez-Reed. Kenney had previously supplied dummy rounds to a film called “The Old Way,” in which armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed was the armorer.

Around that time, Kenney alleges that Gutierrez-Reed sent him a text message telling him that she had obtained live rounds and wanted to know if live rounds could be fired out of a prop gun. Kenney told her that it was a bad idea and “always ends in tears.” He went on to say that he gave dummy rounds to prop master Sarah Zackary, but that was all that he provided.

After Detective Hancock testified, special prosecutor Kari Morrissey took the stand and was questioned about how much she knew about the supplemental piece of evidence. Body cam footage from Teske entering the police station was shown, although he stated that the bullets that he had in his possession had never been on the set of “Rust.” Morrissey said that she felt that the evidence was not worth considering, as the bullets had not come from the “Rust” set and was therefore filed separately and was never given to the defense to review.

After being questioned by Baldwin’s attorney, Alex Spiro, Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer found that the State of New Mexico’s withholding of evidence met all three components of a Brady violation. As such, she decided to dismiss the case with prejudice, which means that they cannot charge Baldwin again going forward.

Baldwin’s sister, Beth, was shown to be in tears behind him. Baldwin also appeared to be emotional and wiped at his eyes while his lawyers patted him on the back. His wife, Hilaria Baldwin, was also in tears as she sat behind the actor.