Actor Alec Baldwin hugs a member of his legal team after the judge threw out the involuntary manslaughter case for the 2021 fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins during filming of the Western movie "Rust," Friday, July 12, 2024, in Santa Fe, N.M. (Ramsay de Give/Pool Photo via AP)
LOS ANGELES (AP) – A New Mexico judge dismissed the involuntary manslaughter case against Alec Baldwin over the fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins in a sudden move Friday.
Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer dismissed the case based on the misconduct of police and prosecutors over the withholding of evidence from the defense. She said the case cannot be filed again.
Baldwin, the lead actor and co-producer of the film “Rust,” was pointing a gun at Hutchins during a rehearsal on the set outside Santa Fe in October 2021 when the gun went off, killing her and wounding director Joel Souza. Baldwin has said he pulled back the hammer – but not the trigger – and the gun fired.
He and other producers still face civil lawsuits from Hutchins’ parents and sister, which white collar defense attorney Mark Sedlander told The Associated Press are more common for workplace accidents like the fatal shooting.
“By civil law standards, it is common for someone like Mr. Baldwin to be held responsible for what happened, but it is relatively unusual in the criminal context,” Sedlander said in an interview before the case was dismissed.
Whether “Rust” will be released is still unclear. The plot follows Baldwin as a Western outlaw who works to break his grandson out of prison after he is convicted of an accidental murder. Filming wrapped in 2023, and producers have said finishing the film was meant to honor Hutchins’ artistic vision and generate money for her young son.
The career of the “30 Rock” star and frequent “Saturday Night Live” host – who has been a household name for more than three decades – had been put into doubt, and he could have gotten 18 months in prison if convicted.
In June, amid the looming trial, Baldwin and his wife, Hilaria, announced they would appear in a reality series about their large family. He shares seven young kids with Hilaria and one adult daughter, Ireland Baldwin, with his ex-wife, Kim Basinger.
The TLC series, tentatively titled “The Baldwins,” is set to release in 2025.
