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In a stunning development Friday afternoon, July 12, a judge in Santa Fe, New Mexico dismissed the involuntary manslaughter charge against Baldwin stemming from the 2021 death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, citing prosecutorial misconduct, according to the outlet.
Judge Mary Marlowe threw out the case with prejudice, meaning it cannot be brought again, after finding that law enforcement intentionally concealed evidence that prevented Baldwin from preparing his defense, TMZ reports.
“There is no right way for the court to right this wrong,” CNN quoted Marlowe as saying.
Following the dismissal, the 66-year-old Baldwin was seen crying and hugging his wife Hilaria in the courtroom.
Hutchins, age 42, was mortally wounded on Oct. 21, 2021, as the crew was preparing to film a scene for “Rust,” a Western film shot at the Bonanza Creek Ranch, located about 13 miles southwest of Santa Fe.
According to investigators, the scene required Baldwin’s character to remove a gun from his holster and then point it at the camera.
As he explained how the scene would play out, Baldwin removed the gun and a live round was fired, striking Hutchins in the chest and director Joel Souza in the shoulder.
Hutchins was flown to a hospital in Albuquerque, where she was pronounced dead.
Souza was hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries and was released the following morning.
Baldwin told investigators that prior to the shooting, he had been told the gun did not contain any live rounds. He has also denied pulling the trigger.
However, a forensic report found that the only way the gun would’ve fired was for the trigger to be pulled, The New York Times reports.
Baldwin pleaded not guilty and was only a few days into his criminal trial when Friday's stunning development came.
A Santa Fe jury found the movie’s armorer, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, guilty of involuntary manslaughter in March 2024. She was sentenced to 18 months in prison, the maximum allowed under state law.
Her attorney, Jason Bowles, told CNN that he plans to file a motion to get her case thrown out as well following Judge Marlowe's ruling.
A native New Yorker, Baldwin was born on Long Island in Amityville, raised in Massapequa, and now resides in the Hamptons, in Amagansett.
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