The judge in Alec Baldwin’s involuntary manslaughter trial is considering a motion from the defense to dismiss the case after the actor’s lawyers argued that the state improperly withheld evidence.
Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, the Rust armorer who was convicted of involuntary manslaughter earlier this year, was initially expected take the stand at Baldwin’s trial on Friday. But the proceedings took a dramatic turn as Baldwin’s defense team accused the state of concealing evidence that would have been favorable to the actor and asked Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer to throw out the case.
The development, and information revealed in court, appears to have upended the prosecution’s case. Special prosecutor Erlinda Johnson resigned in the middle of the day.
During the gripping proceedings, a witness confirmed to the judge that the special prosecutor in the case, Kari Morrissey, was directly involved in the decision to file the evidence in an entirely different case file separate from the other Rust materials. In a highly unusual move, Morrissey called herself to the stand to defend her conduct – despite instruction from the judge that she did not have to do so. “I was not aware at that point in time that it would not be linked to the Rust case number,” she said.
The evidence consists of live rounds of ammunition turned over to New Mexico police in March that the defense argues call into question the source of the bullet that fatally struck the cinematographer Halyna Hutchins. Baldwin is charged with involuntary manslaughter in the death of Hutchins, who was shot during rehearsals for the western when a gun the actor was holding fired.
Gutierrez-Reed oversaw all weapons on set and was responsible for ensuring their safety.
Prosecutors have long said evidence shows that Gutierrez-Reed was the source of the live round, but the defense said the state received evidence that suggested otherwise. A “good samaritan” came forward to police this year with a box of munitions that he claimed came from the prop supplier, Seth Kenney, and matched the ammunition that killed Hutchins, said Alex Spiro, Baldwin’s defense attorney, on Thursday.
A report of the interview was not included with the other Rust evidence nor shared with the lawyer of Gutierrez-Reed and was instead filed under a number unrelated to the case, the defense said. Testimony from Alexandria Hancock, with the Santa Fe county sheriff’s office, revealed that she and other officials made the decision to file it separately from the other Rust evidence.
The special prosecutor, Morrissey, had said earlier in the day that she had never before seen the report about the ammunition brought to the sheriff’s office. But as the judge questioned Hancock, the corporal said that Morrissey took part in the decision to keep the evidence separate from the Rust case – which elicited gasps in the courtroom.
Troy Teske, the man who came forward with the ammunition, is a friend of Gutierrez-Reed’s father, Morrissey had said earlier in the day. She denied the defense’s accusations, and said Baldwin’s team was aware of the evidence brought forward.
Luke Nikas, one of Baldwin’s attorneys, said the report was relevant to the entire case and to the credibility of witnesses who testified in the trial.
“If this evidence wasn’t as important as we say it is, they would have turned it over,” Nikas said.
Morrissey, the special prosecutor, had said the state did not violate its obligations.
“This is a wild goose chase,” she said. “This has no evidentiary value whatsoever.”
The arguments on Friday appeared to stun the courtroom. Sommer asked that the prosecution bring forward the bullets turned over to police and to call the crime scene technician Marissa Poppell, who spoke to Teske and logged the evidence, and bring her back to the stand.
Sommer briefly left the bench and put on gloves to examine the bullets alongside a crowd of lawyers for the prosecution and defense. Shortly after, she dismissed the jury for the day to allow the court to hear from witnesses regarding the motion.
In the afternoon, when proceedings appeared to be turning in Baldwin’s favor, the actor could be heard taking deep breaths as he exited the courtroom alongside his wife, Hilaria Baldwin, on a break.
