Sante Fe, New Mexico – A Santa Fe judge ruled Friday Alec Baldwin A judge has ruled that prosecutors in the case of Halina Hutchins, who was shot and killed on the set of the film “Lust,” concealed evidence from the defense.
When Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer dismissed the case and ruled that charges cannot be filed again against the actor, Baldwin buried his face in his hands and burst into tears.
“The state’s deliberate and deliberate concealment of this information was deliberate and premeditated,” Sommer said. “Even if this conduct does not rise to the level of malice, it clearly comes very close to it and shows signs of extreme bias.”
The judge added that there was “no way for the court to correct this error.”
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Alec Baldwin has responded to a judge’s decision to dismiss his manslaughter lawsuit in the 2021 shooting death of cinematographer Halina Hutchins. (Pool Video via The Associated Press)
After the judge’s ruling, prosecutor Kari Morrissey spoke to reporters outside the courthouse.
“It’s unfortunate because I think the defense misunderstood the importance of the evidence, but we have to respect the court’s decision,” Morrissey said.
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Alec Baldwin and his wife Hilaria embrace after a judge dismissed his manslaughter plea. (Getty Images)
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Baldwin’s brother, Stephen, was in court every day of the trial to show his support. When reached for comment by Fox News Digital after Baldwin’s big victory in court, Stephen had just one thing to say:
“Let me just say one thing,” said Stephen as he got into the car. “It burns. It burns.”
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The third day of the trial in First Judicial District Court began with defense attorney Luke Nikas accusing the state of concealing evidence that prop dealer Seth Kenney was the source of the live ammunition.
In response to this move, a judge in Santa Fe Sending the jury home She was able to hold a last-minute hearing, which resulted in lead prosecutor Kari Morrissey being called as a witness herself.
Morrissey stressed on the stand that he never believed the evidence at issue, presented by former Arizona State Trooper Troy Teske, was exculpatory because the ammunition turned over to law enforcement had never been removed from Arizona prior to the fatal shooting on the set of Lust.
“The ammunition was in Arizona, had never been to New Mexico and did not match any of the live ammunition used on the set of ‘Lust,’ so we decided not to proceed with retrieving it,” Morrissey testified.
Alec Baldwin attends his manslaughter trial for shooting cinematographer Halina Hutchins while filming the 2021 western film “Lust” on July 11, 2024 in Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA. (REUTERS/Ramsey de Gibb/Pool)
The defense argued that investigators and prosecutors concealed evidence about the source of ammunition linked to the 2021 shooting death of cinematographer Halina Hutchins on the set of the film “Lust.”
Armsman Hannah Gutierrez Reed was convicted of loading live ammunition into the handgun that Baldwin fired. Hutchins murder He injured manager Joel Sousa.
During the March 6 trial, Teske, who is also a family friend of Gutierrez Reed’s father, went to the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office and handed a series of bullets to crime scene technician Marissa Poppel.
The bullets were fired by Kenny and matched the bullet that killed Hutchins, he said.
Poppel acknowledged at Friday’s hearing that he had recorded the evidence he received from Teske under a different case number, not the “Last” case, and that the defense had not received a supplemental report on the new evidence.
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The lead investigator on the case, Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Corporal Alexandria Hancock, confirmed the decision was made in consultation with prosecutors and her superiors.
“Okay, so have you all discussed what to do with the things he dropped?” Judge Sommer asked.
“Yes,” she answered.
“So you all agreed to put it in a separate file?” the judge demanded. “Yes,” she answered. She also said the evidence was not kept with other evidence in the case.
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Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer listens to prosecutor Kari Morrissey during actor Alec Baldwin’s hearing in Santa Fe County District Court in Santa Fe, New Mexico, Wednesday, July 10, 2024. Baldwin faces a single charge of manslaughter in the death of a cinematographer. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin, Pool)
The defense apparently learned about the ammunition Teske turned over from body camera footage that captured Teske entering the sheriff’s office. At the time, Teske told Poppel he had key evidence and offered to make a statement.
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Morrissey testified in court earlier that morning that he had first seen the supplemental report, which had allegedly been hidden from the defense.
In a shocking blow to the prosecution team that has been working on the case for more than three years, the state called only seven witnesses.
