Why Alec Baldwin Can’t Be Charged in Connection to Halyna Hutchins’ Death Again

Alec Baldwin won’t be recharged in connection to Halyna Hutchins‘ death.

On July 12, Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer dismissed the involuntary manslaughter case against Baldwin. She did so with prejudice, meaning prosecutors cannot recharge Baldwin.

The dismissal came on the third day of Baldwin’s New Mexico trial for the 2021 shooting on the set of Rust, which killed Hutchins, a cinematographer, and injured director Joel Souza.

Baldwin’s legal team argued that the case against the actor should be dropped, alleging that police took possession of live rounds of ammo as evidence, but failed to record them in the official case file. The defense also alleged prosecutors failed to reveal that this ammo even existed.

After a court recess, witnesses were called to weigh in on the defense’s motion. Corporal Alexandria Hancock testified that ammunition that Troy Teske turned over was not filed with the rest of the Rust evidence, something that she claimed was known to prosecutor Kari T. Morrissey.

Morrissey herself took the stand too, claiming that the ammo in question had “no evidentiary value” to Baldwin’s case because it was not a match to those that were on the set of Rust.

Sommer was not convinced. She ruled that the case be dismissed with prejudice, telling the courtroom, “The late discovery of this evidence has impacted the fundamental fairness of the proceedings. There is no way for the court to right this wrong. The sanction of dismissal is the only warranted remedy.”

Baldwin and his wife, Hilaria Baldwin, cried in relief after the judge’s ruling, while Morrissey expressed her disagreement with the decision.

“I’m disappointed because I believe that the importance of the evidence was misconstrued by the defense attorneys,” she said outside the courthouse. “We did everything humanly possible to bring justice to Halyna and to her family and we’re proud of the work that we did.”

The judge’s ruling could impact the fate of Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, who was convicted of involuntary manslaughter back in March. She was sentenced to 18 months at a New Mexico Correctional Facility the following month, but her lawyers could file a motion for a new trial in the wake of Sommer’s decision.

Additionally, the judge’s ruling means that Seth Kenney, the firearms provider for Rust, may be prosecuted, and that Morrissey could face a prosecutorial misconduct complaint.

Watch the video below for more on the Rust tragedy.

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