Ireland Baldwin seemingly reacted to her father Alec Baldwin‘s trial being dismissed with a throwback photo.
The 28-year-old took to Instagram on Friday to share a throwback photo of her as a child resting on her father’s belly as she examines him with stethoscope. A tiny Ireland looks shocked hearing her dad’s heartbeat, it seems, as Alec smiles and appears to get a kick out of the sweet moment.
Ireland posted the pic not long after Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer granted Alec’s lawyer’s motion to dismiss the actor’s involuntary manslaughter trial. Alec’s lawyer, Alex Spiro, successfully argued that state investigators failed to properly disclose evidence in the case.
The case was dismissed without prejudice, meaning Alec can’t be tried again. He was facing a single count of involuntary manslaughter over the fatal shooting of Rust cinematographer Halyna Hutchins. Had he convicted, Alec faced up to 18 months behind bars. But the case is now over and done with.
“The late discovery of this evidence has impacted the fundamental fairness of the proceedings,” Sommer said Friday. “There is no way for the court to right this wrong. The sanction of dismissal is the only warranted remedy.”
After Sommer granted the motion to dismiss, Alec, 66, could be seen sobbing following a trial that barely lasted three days. His wife, Hilaria Baldwin, was there by his side when the judge delivered her ruling, as was Alec’s brother, actor Stephen Baldwin.
Ireland, the daughter of Alec and his ex-wife, Kim Basinger, also saw a flood of support in the comments section. One follower commented, “Elated for your dad and family – bless you all Ireland – justice has rightly been served as he’s been in living hell – watching his face as the Judge spoke made me cry with him XO 🙏♥️ Love to you xo.” Another added, “Such wonderful news for your family. I know that you are beyond relieved.”
The case hit major turbulence Friday when special prosecutor Erlinda Johnson resigned from the case reportedly due to the turmoil over the evidence. Special prosecutor Kari Morrissey confirmed the news when she took the stand Friday.
“Something went wrong in this case. They lost Erlinda Johnson today the other special prosecutor, who had just joined the case. That’s a question of what happened to have Erlinda hit the eject button and get out of this plane before it crashed,” said legal expert John Day in an interview outside the courthouse with Law & Crime. “A lot of questions that still need to be answered. At the end of the day, the defense team did a remarkable job in defending [Baldwin] and raising all these questions. You had a judge who was ticked off at the way the special prosecutor handled the case, and the judge decided the only remedy here is to shut this down with no possibility of re-filing.
Day added that Baldwin will sleep well tonight while the people of New Mexico “are out a lot of money” due to the taxpayer dollars allocated to fight this high-profile case, which he called “a disaster.”
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