‘Beetlejuice’ star Alec Baldwin was facing trial for involuntary manslaughter related to the ‘Rust’ movie set incident. Baldwin was handling a prop gun that went off, resulting in the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and injuries to director Joel Souza.

The trial began on Tuesday in Santa Fe, New Mexico, with Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer presiding. If convicted, Alec Baldwin faced up to 18 months in prison. However, in an unexpected turn of events, the case was dismissed in a dramatic fashion.

Judge Sommer stated that evidence potentially favorable to Baldwin’s case, linked to the death of Hutchins, had not been with his lawyers by police and prosecutors. The court deemed the deliberate withholding of this crucial evidence as reflecting bad faith and prejudice against Baldwin, leading to the dismissal of the case.

The Hollywood star immediately burst into tears when the court unexpectedly tossed out the case, which could have resulted in imprisonment.

Trial’s Judgment:

Judge Marlowe Sommer ruled, “The state’s willful withholding of this information was intentional and deliberate. If this conduct does not rise to the level of bad faith, it certainly comes close enough to show signs of significant prejudice. The court concludes that this conduct is highly prejudicial to the defendant.” Previously, the court convicted the film’s armorer, Hannah Gutierrez, and sentenced her to 18 months in prison.

Alec Baldwin’s celebrity lawyer, Alex Spiro, argued that the actor bore no responsibility for checking the weapon contents and if it contained live rounds. The defense heavily relied on discrediting the police investigation. Additionally, on Thursday, Spiro introduced evidence showing that someone had handed live bullets potentially linked to the shooting to police but had not disclosed them to Baldwin’s attorneys.

Emergence of Suppressed Evidence:

A “Good Samaritan” submitted the rounds to police earlier this year, more than two years after the “Rust” tragedy. This “Good Samaritan,” a former police officer and family friend of Gutierrez, informed police that the rounds matched those that killed Hutchins. Baldwin’s attorney, Spiro, accused police of having “buried” evidence by not filing it under the “Rust” case, depriving the defense of the opportunity to review it as part of “a perfect plan.”

When questioned by Spiro, crime technician Marissa Poppell stated that she cataloged the bullets but had received instruction not to file them under the “Rust” case. Following this revelation, prosecutor Kari Morrissey struggled to respond, claiming she had never seen or heard of the bullets until this week.

However, Morrissey was present during discussions where the team decided not to submit the bullets to the “Rust” case file. In a final attempt to salvage the state’s case, Morrissey voluntarily called herself as a witness and argued that the allegedly “buried” bullets did not match the live rounds from the “Rust” set and had were in Arizona (where the shooting did not occur) until the day of the tragic incident.

Judge Marlowe Sommer was not convinced and dismissed the case.

Involuntary Manslaughter at the ‘Rust’ Set:

On October 21, 2021, tragedy struck on the set of the movie “Rust” when cinematographer Halyna Hutchins suffered a fatal gunshot wound, and director Joel Souza sustained injuries. Alec Baldwin, handling a prop gun, unintentionally discharged it, striking both Hutchins and Souza.

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