Alec Baldwin breaks down in tears as his ‘Rust’ shooting trial is thrown out: Updates

Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer dismissed the case with prejudice based on the misconduct of police and prosecutors over the withholding of evidence from the defense

Alec Baldwin breaks down in tears as Rust shooting case is dismissed

Alec Baldwin’s involuntary manslaughter case in the fatal shooting of a cinematographer Halyna Hutchins has been thrown out after just a week of testimony.

The Hollywood actor, 66, broke down in tears and hugged his attorneys and his wife Hilaria after Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer announced her decision at the end of a chaotic day in the New Mexico courtroom.

Judge Sommer dismissed the case with prejudice based on the misconduct of police and prosecutors over the withholding of evidence from the defense. The prosecution will not be able to file charges against Baldwin again in Hutchins’ death.

Nearly three years have passed since a prop gun Baldwin was holding went off during a rehearsal of the film’s shooting scene in 2021, striking and killing Hutchins and injuring director Joel Souza.

Baldwin was charged with involuntary manslaughter and faced 18 months in prison. Now, he walks free.

Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, the film’s armorer, has already been convicted of involuntary manslaughter and was sentenced to 18 months in prison. Her attorney says he plans to move to have her case dismissed.

Key points

• Hannah Gutierrez-Reed will not testify today
• Crime scene tech says there is evidence armorer brought live rounds on set
• Alec Baldwin’s wife Hilaria and brother Stephen show support at trial
• Gloria Allred says Halyna Hutchins’ family cannot travel for trial

[12 July 2024 09:00 · Andrea Cavallier]

Alec Baldwin cuts asking price of Hamptons home by $10m

Alec Baldwin has slashed the asking price for his home in the Hamptons by $10 million.

The 30 Rock actor originally listed the 10,000-square-foot farmhouse for sale at $29m in November 2022.

It is now on the market for $18.9m following a series of cuts.

[12 July 2024 07:00 · Andrea Cavallier]

Watch the moment Alec Baldwin hears of Halyna Hutchins’ death

[12 July 2024 05:00 · Andrea Cavallier]

What movies and TV shows has Alec Baldwin been in?

Hollywood has never known exactly what to do with Alec Baldwin, so it has done a little of everything with him.

Before the horrific 2021 shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of the Western “Rust” put his career in question, he took on, and sent up, a wide spectrum of variations of masculinity. He has shifted from playing heroes to scoundrels to thugs to gentle father figures to office alpha males to a “ Boss Baby.”

He went from star leading man to bit player to scene stealer, at times going years without a major role in a hit film or show. But he has remained a household name for nearly 35 years, largely on the strength of his real-life personality: as an outspoken liberal, occasional hothead, talk-show guest, podcast host, game show host, and the king of all “Saturday Night Live” hosts.

Here’s a look at Baldwin's career in and out of Hollywood:

[12 July 2024 04:00 · Andrea Cavallier]

Baldwin’s lawyer Alex Spiro grills crime scene tech over search for live ammo

Spiro grilled Santa Fe County sheriff’s technician Marissa Poppell over what he suggested were shoddy and subpar searches for the live ammunition that ended up in the actor’s revolver.

In particular, over search warrants served on a prop truck a week after the death of Hutchins and on a prop warehouse more than a month after the shooting.

The questions eventually led to Spiro asking Poppell whether police and prosecutors “were just trying to get this over with so that prosecutors could focus on Alec Baldwin?”

“No,” she answered.

(AP)

Spiro got Poppell to testify that it could be very difficult to tell the difference between dummy rounds made to appear as onscreen ammunition that were used on the set, and the live rounds that turned the set fatal.

It was an attempt to push back against the key assertion of prosecutors’ case: that Baldwin recklessly flouted gun safety.

[12 July 2024 03:00 · Andrea Cavallier]

How many kids does Alec Baldwin have?

Alec Baldwin has seven kids under the age of 10 with his wife Hilaria.

The couple married in July 2012 and welcomed their first child in August 2013.

Their daughters are Carmen Gabriela, 10, María Lucía Victoria, 3, and Ilaria Catalina Irena, 20 months, and their sons are Rafael Thomas, 8, Leonardo Ángel Charles, 7, Romeo Alejandro David, 6, and Eduardo "Edu" Pao Lucas, 3.

(Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)

Baldwin was previously married to actor Kim Basinger, who had his eldest daughter, Ireland.

Now the couple are set to star in their own reality series on TLC. “The Baldwins,” the show’s working title, is set to release in 2025.

“We’re inviting you into our home to experience the ups and downs, the good, the bad, the wild and the crazy,” Baldwin said in a video he shared to Instagram.

In the announcement video, the couple joked about Hilaria announcing another pregnancy, but she said they are done having kids before the clip cut to a chaotic shot of their children screaming and the parents struggling to wrangle the bunch for a group photo.

[12 July 2024 02:20 · Andrea Cavallier]

How does a gun shoot without pulling the trigger?

Alec Baldwin’s defense team argues that even if the actor did pull trigger, he’s still not guilty.

So how does a gun shoot without pulling the trigger?

Here’s what Baldwin’s defense is saying:

[12 July 2024 01:23 · Andrea Cavallier]

Lead detective takes the stand as court ends for the day

Baldwin’s trial ended Thursday with Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Cpl. Alexandra Hancock on the stand.

Hancock began her testimony about the shooting investigation.

Hancock will return to the stand when court resumes Friday morning at 10:30 a.m. ET.

[11 July 2024 23:12 · Andrea Cavallier]

Manufacturer testifies gun used on ‘Rust' set could not fire without pulling trigger

Alessandro Pietta, who manufactures reproductions of collectible firearms, is on the stand as the state’s next witness.

He testified that his family made the gun used by Alec Baldwin on the set of “Rust” and that it is not possible to fire the gun without pulling the trigger.

“This gun cannot fire without pulling the trigger because of the mechanics and design of the trigger was made to work in this way,” Pieta said.

(AP)

He said that the gun goes through quality control by the government of Italy and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives after the company does its own check for defects.

On redirect, Pietta said he did not inspect the gun following the shooting and did not have knowledge of its condition when it was used on set.

[11 July 2024 23:00 · Andrea Cavallier]

Who is Seth Kenney?

Seth Kenney was the owner of the prop company, PDQ Arm and Prop, LLC. He is also a good friend of Hannah Gutierrez-Reed’s father, and the one who brought the ammunition in after her conviction.

Gutierrez-Reed sued Kenney and his company for allegedly selling her a cache of dummy ammunition with live rounds mixed in.

Crime scene technician Marissa Poppell testified on Thursday that there is evidence which shows Gutierrez-Reed, the armorer for “Rust,” brought the live rounds of ammunition on the set.

[11 July 2024 22:22 · Andrea Cavallier]

Crime scene tech says there is evidence armorer brought live rounds on set

A friend of Hannah Gutierrez’s father, a widely known armorer in Hollywood, turned over a box of munition following Gutierrez’s trial, the state confirmed on redirect with crime scene tech Poppell.

Morrissey questions Poppell about the man’s motivation to implicate Seth Kenney, the weapon supplier for the film.

But Poppell testified she had no evidence that Kenney had anything to do with bringing live rounds to set.

“If you know, is there evidence that Hannah Gutierrez brought the live rounds onto the set of Rust?” Morrissey asked.

“Yes,” Poppell said.