Judge Stunningly Dimisses Charges Against Alec Baldwin In ‘Rust’ On-Set Shooting Incident

Alec Baldwin has had a huge legal cloud hanging over his head since the fatal and unfortunate shooting  and subsequent death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins that also injured director Joel Souza while on-set filming the movie Rust.  Baldwin has claimed the shooting, which involved a gun that was being used as a prop during filming that was loaded with live ammo when it should’ve been, was an unfortunate accident and he did nothing criminal.

Santa Fe, New Mexico prosecutors have long disagreed, initially charging him with involuntary manslaughter in Early 2023, then dropping the charges, and finally taking the charges to a grand jury that chose to indict him on those same charges in January of this year. Baldwin’s trial got underway on Wednesday, but it’s over now after a motion that is often used but rarely granted by a trial judge was granted on Friday, ending the trial.

Things got weird during the trial on Friday, when testimony was halted after evidence contained in a manila envelope was brought into court and given to the judge, causing a pretty wild scene of the judge evaluating the new evidence. Baldwin’s team filed a motion dismiss, which defense teams file all the time but are rarely granted.

This time, it was. According to the New York Times, the manila envelope contained evidence that explained how the live rounds of ammunition, which are not allowed on set, arrived on set. The real issue was that the prosecutors had not given this evidence to the defense, which is a serious issue in court, known as a Brady Violation. Prosecutors have a legal obligation to turn over evidence that may be exculpatory to the defendant’s innocence. If you don’t do it, you risk the case being thrown out with prejudice, meaning it can’t be retried and the accused will leave court a free man.

During the hearing over the new evidence and motion to dismiss, one of the prosecutors, Erlindo Ocampo Johnson, resigned, likely due to the Brady violation

That’s exactly what happened here, as Judge Mary Marlowe Summer granted the motion to dismiss over a Brady Violation, thus ending any and all prosecution of Alec Baldwin over the incident that cost a young woman her life.

Here’s the footage.

The family of Halyna Hutchins previously sued Baldwin, and they agreed to an undisclosed settlement back in 2022.

Some legal scholars thought that it was unlikely that Alec Baldwin would get convicted of inovluntary manslaughter in this trial to begin with. Now, it seems clear that the prosecution withheld evidence that could’ve made the entire case moot had it been produced. That could result in some sanctions handed down against the prosecution, as Brady violations are taken seriously.

Rust is currently in post-production, and the movie is likely to be released at some point.

As for Alec Baldwin, the chance of a conviction a a prison sentence up to 18 months is finally over.