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Judge dismisses Alec Baldwin's 'Rust' case after defense claims evidence was withheld

Friday saw one of the prosecutors in the case resign and another testify.

In a stunning turn of events, a New Mexico judge dismissed Alec Baldwin's "Rust" case Friday, on day three of his manslaughter trial.

The judge granted the defense's motion to dismiss the case, in which they claimed live ammunition that came into the hands of local law enforcement related to the investigation into the deadly on-set shooting was "concealed" from them. Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer said the state's discovery violation regarding the late disclosure of a supplemental report on the ammunition evidence "injected needless delay into the proceedings," approached "bad faith" and was "highly prejudicial to the defendant."

 

Actor Alec Baldwin reacts during his trial on involuntary manslaughter at Santa Fe County District Court in Santa Fe, New Mexico, on July 12, 2024. Ramsay De Give/Pool via Reuters
Actor Alec Baldwin reacts during his trial on involuntary manslaughter at Santa Fe County District Court in Santa Fe, New Mexico, on July 12, 2024. Ramsay De Give/Pool via Reuters
 

"There is no way for the court to right this wrong," Sommer said in granting the motion to dismiss with prejudice, meaning Baldwin cannot be tried again on the charge.

Baldwin reacted emotionally as the judge explained her ruling and could be seen hugging his wife, Hilaria Baldwin, in the courtroom.

He had faced 18 months in prison if convicted.

The decision followed a day-long motion hearing Friday amid the actor's involuntary manslaughter trial over the death of "Rust" cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, who was fatally shot by Baldwin on the Santa Fe set of the Western in October 2021 when his revolver fired a live round.

 

PHOTO: Alec Baldwin and his wife Hilaria Baldwin embrace during his trial on involuntary manslaughter at Santa Fe County District Court in Santa Fe, New Mexico, on July 12, 2024.
Alec Baldwin and his wife Hilaria Baldwin embrace during his trial on involuntary manslaughter at Santa Fe County District Court in Santa Fe, New Mexico, on July 12, 2024. Baldwin's trial for involuntary manslaughter was dismissed by a judge Friday after she ruled that key evidence over a fatal shooting on the set of "Rust" had been withheld from the defense.
Ramsay De Give/POOL/AFP via Getty Images
 

The court discussed the defense's motion in the absence of the jury. In an unexpected move, the special prosecutor on the case, Kari Morrissey, also called herself to testify on the matter.

During cross-examination of Morrissey, it was revealed that the other prosecutor in the case, Erlinda Ocampo Johnson, resigned from the case on Friday. Morrissey said it was because Johnson "didn't agree with the decision to have a public hearing."

 

Defense alleges evidence was buried

In an expedited motion filed late Thursday, the defense argued the case should be dismissed over the handling of the ammunition evidence. During court on Friday, the state argued the evidence has no exculpatory value and is not relevant to Baldwin's case.

Poppell testified that her lieutenant instructed her to create a report documenting that the individual came and gave them the ammunition and she filed it under a case number different from the "Rust" case.

 

Alec Baldwin attends his trial for involuntary manslaughter at Santa Fe County District Court in Santa Fe, New Mexico, on July 12, 2024. Ramsay De Give/POOL/AFP via Getty Images
Alec Baldwin attends his trial for involuntary manslaughter at Santa Fe County District Court in Santa Fe, New Mexico, on July 12, 2024. Ramsay De Give/POOL/AFP via Getty Images
 

 

"You buried it," Spiro said.

"No," Poppell responded. "There is a supplemental report on it, and that was placed into evidence."

Spiro went on to ask, "Isn't it the case that law enforcement likely has the matching rounds to the ammunition that killed Ms. Hutchins?"

"I do not know," Poppell said.

"And you do not know because you made a doc report about this and did not put it with the rest of the 'Rust' evidence, correct?" Spiro asked.

Spiro went on to ask, "Isn't it the case that law enforcement likely has the matching rounds to the ammunition that killed Ms. Hutchins?"

"I do not know," Poppell said.

"And you do not know because you made a doc report about this and did not put it with the rest of the 'Rust' evidence, correct?" Spiro asked.

"Those rounds were not placed with the rest of the 'Rust' evidence, correct," Poppell said.

"Nor were they sent to the FBI for testing with the 'Rust' evidence, were they?" Spiro asked.

"No, they were not," Poppell said.

During redirect on Thursday, Morrissey had Poppell confirm that Baldwin has not been charged with involuntary manslaughter for bringing live rounds onto the movie set or for loading a live round into the gun.

"Has a person already been tried and convicted for those things?" Morrissey asked.

"Yes," Poppell said, referring to Gutierrez.

 

PHOTO: Alec Baldwin's involuntary manslaughter trial for the 2021 fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins during filming of the Western movie 'Rust'
Alec Baldwin speaks with his wife Hilaria Baldwin during his trial on involuntary manslaughter at Santa Fe County District Court, July 12, 2024, in Santa Fe, N.M.
Ramsay De Give/Pool via Reuters
 

 

Morrissey asked Poppell if she was aware that the "good Samaritan" who provided the ammunition in question in the motion was Troy Teske, a "close friend" of Gutierrez's father, famed Hollywood armorer Thell Reed, to which Poppell said she was not.

"Are you aware that Troy Teske had his own motivations for wanting to place blame on Seth Kenney to help Hannah Gutierrez?" Morrissey asked.

"No, I had no knowledge of that," Poppell said.

Poppell testified that Kenney provided the sheriff's office with his own live rounds, which were tested and found not to match the live ammunition found on set. Live ammunition found at Kenney's prop house was also not found to be a match, she said.

Poppell testified that Gutierrez was determined to be the source of the live rounds, based on photographic evidence from the set.

Gutierrez's attorney, Jason Bowles, said it was "beyond shocking" that the live rounds provided to the sheriff's office by Teske weren't tested.

"They were hiding the ball until called out on it in trial. If you want to get to the truth, you run down all leads," he said in a statement.

Gutierrez previously appealed her conviction in May.

 

Trial pivots to motion hearing

During Friday's motion hearing, Morrissey said the state initially had been provided a photograph of the ammunition by Teske, a retired officer who lives in Arizona, and determined based on the photograph that it was not a match to the live ammunition found on the set and they were "not going to continue going down this rabbit hole."

"There is absolutely nothing about the ammunition that Troy Teske had that has any evidentiary value in the Gutierrez case. It has no evidentiary value in the Baldwin case," Morrissey said.

Defense attorney Luke Nikas charged that the evidence was "concealed" by being placed under a different case number and said it was "critical" evidence that was required to be disclosed.

"Miss Morrissey does not get to determine what has evidentiary value and what doesn't," he said.

While on the stand during Friday's motion hearing, Poppell disputed that the ammunition was hidden and said it wasn't evidence that Kenney provided the live ammunition to the set of "Rust."

"If you buried it, how did the defense attorneys know to cross-examine you on it yesterday?" Morrissey asked Poppell.

"I do not know," she replied.

Kenney testified during Friday's hearing that he initially alerted investigators to the live ammunition from Teske during an interview in November 2021, days after the shooting. He said he believed that might have been the source of the live ammunition on the set but later determined it couldn't have been based on differences in the powder and projectiles.

Asked by Morrissey whether he believed Reed and Thell wanted to blame him for the introduction of the live rounds on the "Rust" set, he responded, "To varying degrees, yes."

"It seemed palpable that they were trying to point the finger at me," he said.

Kenney testified he was certain he didn't provide any live rounds to the film.

"There was never a question in my mind that I provided the live ammunition to 'Rust,'" he said.

Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office Cpl. Alexandra Hancock, the lead detective in the "Rust" investigation, testified during Friday's motion hearing that Teske showed up to court during Gutierrez's trial with live ammunition before dropping it off at the sheriff's office. Hancock said she left a couple messages with Teske but he didn't return them so she was unable to tie the evidence to "Rust."

Asked by Spiro whether there was "other evidence in this case that has this quantum of proof that you have hidden" from the defendant, Hancock responded, "I don't think I've hidden anything."

When Spiro mentioned that Teske did give a witness statement to Poppell, Hancock said she did not know that until Friday.

The lapel camera footage of Teske talking to Poppell at the sheriff's office was shown during the hearing, during which he said he had "evidence." He said the ammunition was not from the "Rust" set but from the same set of live rounds that Reed had for a different film project.

Teske, who was listed as a witness for the defense for Gutierrez's trial but was never called, said on the video that her defense did not want the ammunition.

Lt. Brian Brandel, whose lapel footage was shown in court Friday, testified that Hancock said to file the information under a different case number pending further investigation.

 

Prosecutor takes the stand

Under questioning by Judge Sommer, who has presided over both trials in the shooting, Hancock said the evidence was placed under a different case number from the "Rust" investigation based on discussions she, her supervisors and Morrissey had. Morrissey said she would be happy to testify under oath.

Morrissey called herself as a witness, after Spiro said he did not feel the need to call her himself.

She testified that the rounds provided by Teske "did not strike me as having significant evidentiary value" because they never left Arizona and appeared dissimilar to the live rounds found on the set of "Rust" based on a photo of the ammunition provided by Gutierrez's attorney, Bowles.

"The only way that it is relevant to the 'Rust' investigation is if it has any similarity to the live rounds that were found on the set of 'Rust,'" she said. "When I received this photograph from Mr. Bowles, I could immediately tell that these are very dissimilar from the live rounds that were found on the set of 'Rust.'"

 

Special prosecutor Kari Morrissey speaks during actor Alec Baldwin's trial on involuntary manslaughter in First Judicial District Court, on July 12, 2024, in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Pool via Getty Images
Special prosecutor Kari Morrissey speaks during actor Alec Baldwin's trial on involuntary manslaughter in First Judicial District Court, on July 12, 2024, in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Pool via Getty Images
 

 

She said at that point she did not take any steps to collect the ammunition. When Teske brought it to the sheriff's office, she said she did not realize the ammunition would be filed under a different case number from the "Rust" investigation.

Morrissey argued that Bowles did not want the ammunition from Teske because "it was the best evidence against his client" regarding the source of the live bullets on set.

During his cross-examination of Morrissey, Spiro at one point accused the prosecutor of not liking Baldwin.

"You know, that is absolutely untrue," Morrissey said. "I actually really appreciate Mr. Baldwin's movies. I really appreciated the acting that he did on 'Saturday Night Live,' and I really appreciate his politics."

 

Judge calls withholding 'intentional and deliberate'

In issuing her order, Sommer said that a dismissal with prejudice, as sought by the defense, is a "very extreme sanction" and that she needed to "make a very good record" of her decision.

"The Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office and the prosecutor failed to disclose the supplemental report to the defense and provide the defense an opportunity to inspect the rounds collected into evidence that Mr. Teske gave," she said, adding that the suppressed evidence is "potentially exculpatory."

"Critically, the exculpatory value cannot be analyzed at such a late juncture because of the nondisclosure," she said.

She called the state's withholding of this information "intentional and deliberate" and that it came to light so late in the proceedings that it "undermines the defendant's preparation for trial."

"If this conduct does not rise to the level of bad faith, it certainly comes so near to bad faith as to show signs of scorching prejudice," she said.

 

PHOTO: Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer during actor Alec Baldwin's trial for involuntary manslaughter for the 2021 fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins during filming of the Western movie 'Rust,' July 12, 2024, in Santa Fe, N.M.
Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer opens a package of evidence not turned over to defense attorneys during actor Alec Baldwin's trial for involuntary manslaughter for the 2021 fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins during filming of the Western movie "Rust," July 12, 2024, in Santa Fe, N.M.
Eddie Moore/The Albuquerque Journal via AP, Pool
 

Morrissey told reporters outside the courthouse that she respects the court's decision.

"I'm disappointed because I believe that the importance of the evidence was misconstrued by the defense attorneys, but I have to respect the court's decision," she said.

Asked by a reporter if she felt she let Hutchins' family down, she said no.

"We did everything humanly possible to bring justice to Halyna and to her family and we are proud of the work that we did," she said. "We disagree with the court's decision but we have to respect it."

Baldwin and his team left the courthouse without comment.

The actor was indicted by a grand jury on involuntary manslaughter in connection with Hutchins' death earlier this year after prosecutors previously dropped the charge. He pleaded not guilty.

His defense team had filed several other motions seeking to dismiss his indictment prior to the start of the trial, all of which were denied.

An attorney for Hutchins' husband, Matthew Hutchins, said in a statement that they "respect the court's decision."

Bowles told ABC News that he plans to file a motion on Monday addressing the "same discovery failures by the state" in Gutierrez's case.

"She's in prison right now, in a case that wasn't fair, because the state can't turn over evidence like they're supposed to do under the discovery rules," he said. "The judge absolutely did the right thing today dismissing Mr. Baldwin's case."

 

Author: Editors Desk, Meredith Deliso

Source: ABC GMA

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