Alec Baldwin, Photo: Matt Aguto/Shutterstock Editorial/Profimedia
Drama for Alec Baldwin: His case for manslaughter on the set of the movie “Rust” was dismissed on Friday due to a procedural defect, as the prosecutor’s office did not send any bullets related to the case to the defense, AFP writes. Agerpres.
Judge Mary Marlow Somer dismissed the trial for missing evidence, condemning conduct “close to bad faith” on the part of the prosecution.
“This behavior is very damaging to the accused,” the magistrate insisted, before the 66-year-old actor, who immediately broke down in tears.
Alec Baldwin faces up to 18 months in prison for the October 2021 tragedy in New Mexico.
The actor was rehearsing for a scene in October 2021 using a revolver that requires blanks to be loaded. One of the bullets was real, however, the shooting took a tragic turn after the shooting killed cinematographer Halina Hutchins and injured the film’s director, Joel Sosa.
Alec Baldwin’s lawyers accuse police of covering up evidence
The prosecution has not been able to establish how the live ammunition – banned in principle – came into the set.
On Friday, his lawyers directly accused the police of “burying” evidence that could explain the tragedy.
That’s because earlier in the year, two and a half years after the events, the Santa Fe Sheriff received a batch of bullets from a former policeman who said the ammunition was identical to the fatal bullet. It is enough to establish and clarify the responsibilities of each person in the tragedy.
However, these bullets were never handed over to the defense and could not be examined.
According to the prosecution, the bullets did not match the ones that killed Ms Hutchins, a 42-year-old cameraman from Ukraine.
“It’s a wrong way to go,” said attorney Gary Morrissey. “It doesn’t have the value it deserves,” he added.
But the lawyer was embarrassed when he explained why these bullets did not play a major role in the trial.
“I didn’t see them until this morning,” she nervously explained to the judge.
The investigator’s testimony on Friday showed that he participated in the deliberations that led to the decision not to put the bullets in the “Rust” file.
In a desperate attempt to save his case, the lawyer agreed to testify in court.
Without providing sufficient explanation to justify that these bullets were not on file and could not be used by the defense.
Interrupted by that drama, filming on “Rust” finally wrapped in Montana, with Halina Hutchins’ widowed husband Matthew serving as executive producer. He dropped a civil suit filed against actor Alec Baldwin, based on which financial terms were not disclosed.
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