You can't make it up: Alec Baldwin is spared from shooting trial thanks to Hollywood ending

In a shocking turn of events, the charges against actor Alec Baldwin were dismissed without prejudice on Friday, July 12, 2024, and the trial ended before it had even really begun. According to the judge's ruling, Baldwin's manslaughter case cannot be brought again, a decision that brought the actor to tears as he sat in the courtroom.

Baldwin was charged with involuntary manslaughter by negligent use of a firearm during the filming of his upcoming movie, “Rust.” Negligence is the failure to exercise the appropriate care expected to be exercised under similar circumstances or, alternatively, involuntary manslaughter (without due caution or circumspection), both fourth-degree felonies.

What happened to the gun?

At the time of the incident, Baldwin was given the prop gun that day and told it was “cold,” meaning there was no live ammunition inside. However, Baldwin maintains that the trigger was never pulled. Instead, he claims the gun fired just once when it was removed from its holster on set.

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The revolver's chamber contained a live lead bullet that killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.

Forensic expert Lucien C. Haag's report did not directly address whether the gun had been modified, though he concluded that the older-style Pietta revolver would have required about two pounds of trigger pressure to fire a bullet.

In his report, Haag noted that some parts of the revolver were broken when he received it and that he had to replace them with new ones to test it. Baldwin's attorneys had previously raised questions about how such a damaged weapon could be properly tested, noting that the weapon's fracture during testing suggested the gun was defective when Baldwin was using it.

Can two parties be guilty of the same crime?

Gunsmith Hannah Gutierrez-Reed had already been convicted of involuntary manslaughter, a felony, in Hutchins' death, and sentenced to 18 months in prison earlier this year, the maximum sentence for the charge. One question that would have been raised at Baldwin's trial would be whether two parties could be found guilty of the same crime.

At sentencing, the judge in the case referred to Gutierrez-Reed's “lack of remorse” throughout the trial. Prosecutor Kari T. Morrissey said she reviewed Gutierrez-Reed's phone calls from jail to determine what sentence to recommend to the judge. Morrissey said the calls reflected that Gutierrez-Reed took no responsibility for Hutchins' death and chose to “blame the witnesses who testified against him.”

For Baldwin, however, any speculation about his action or inaction is moot as this case has come to an end.

Brady rape ends trial

New Mexico Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer dismissed the case based on prosecutorial and police misconduct for withholding evidence from the defense, citing case law on Brady violations. General examples of Brady violations include false testimony, lack of credibility of someone assigned to the case, and/or withholding physical evidence that suggests a defendant is not guilty of a crime.

The judge said: “The late discovery of this evidence during the trial has impeded the effective use of it to such an extent that it has affected the fundamental fairness of the proceedings. If this conduct does not rise to the level of bad faith, it certainly comes so close to it that it shows signs of being serious.”

The evidence being referred to is ammunition revealed during testimony on Thursday, July 11, 2024. A man brought it to the sheriff's office in March and said it could be related to Hutchins' murder. At the time, prosecutors said they considered the ammunition unrelated and unimportant, while Baldwin's attorneys claimed it was “buried” and filed a motion to dismiss the case.

Alec Baldwin reacts after the judge dismissed the manslaughter case for the 2021 fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins during the filming of the Western movie “Rust,” Friday, July 12, 2024, in Santa Fe County District Court in Santa Fe, NM (Pool video via AP)

As a result, Gutierrez-Reed is appealing her own conviction, and her attorney said she would file a motion to dismiss based on the decision in the Baldwin case. And, in a final and surprising twist, the special prosecutor, Erlinda Ocampo Johnson, who delivered the state’s opening statement, resigned from the case on Friday before the judge dismissed the charges.

A case with ups and downs comes to an end

What was a roller coaster of cases has finally reached its conclusion.

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The shooting incident occurred on October 21, 2021. More than a year later, Baldwin was initially charged with involuntary manslaughter and aggravated firearm charges in January 2023.

The second charge was dismissed, and both charges were subsequently dismissed entirely in April 2023, as prosecutors at the time cited “new facts in the case.” However, in January 2024, a grand jury indicted Baldwin on a new charge of involuntary manslaughter, leading to a trial in July 2024.

The judge said: “The late discovery of this evidence during the trial has impeded the effective use of it to such an extent that it has affected the fundamental fairness of the proceedings. If this conduct does not rise to the level of bad faith, it certainly comes so close to it that it shows signs of being serious.”

Because of the back-and-forth nature of the case from the beginning, the question is: Did prosecutors have a strong case against Baldwin from the beginning, and who was responsible for the incident?

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Now that Judge Marlowe Sommer has put an end to this case once and for all, it will be interesting to see if there will be any changes to Gutierrez-Reed's sentence and if she will be released from prison.

Baldwin has faced his fair share of legal troubles in the past, but for now, he has a clean record.

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