Alec Baldwin manslaughter case dismissed by judge
Hollywood actor Alec Baldwin broke down in tears as the judge dismissed the case of involuntary manslaughter lodged against him. This ruling arrives almost three years on from the on-set death of Halyna Hutchins while filming Rust.
Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer dismissed the case last night, July 12th, and declared that it can’t be subsequently resubmitted. This ruling came after Baldwin’s defence argued that the prosecution had concealed vital evidence regarding the ammunition from the court.
The prosecution had claimed throughout that Baldwin had broken “the cardinal rules of firearm safety” while on set, however, his defence countered this by saying that he had “committed no crime” and was merely “an actor acting”. They argued that he was not responsible for safety checks and did not pull the trigger.
The actor faced up to 18-months in prison if he had been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter. These fears have now been dismissed. The judge announced: “The late discovery of this evidence during trial has impeded the effective use of evidence in such a way that it has impacted the fundamental fairness of the proceedings.”
Sommer added that the prosecution had been highly “highly prejudicial” towards Baldwin and apologised that there was “no way for the court to right this wrong”.
In prosecutor Erlinda Ocampo Johnson’s opening statement, she alleged Baldwin “violated the cardinal rules of firearm safety” while working on the movie. Johnson continued: “That’s what this case is about. It’s simple and straightforward. The evidence will show that someone who played make-believe with a real gun and violated the cardinal rules of firearm safety is the defendant – Alexander Baldwin.”
Following Johnson’s message to the court, Baldwin’s lawyer, Alex Spiro, denied the allegations brought forward against his client, stating, “These cardinal rules [the prosecution mentioned] are not cardinal rules on a movie set.”
Spiro continued: “Alec Baldwin committed no crime. The most critical issue in this case is how a real bullet got in a movie set.”
Furthermore, Spiro made sure to define the term ‘cold gun ‘ which he said was pivotal to this case. The legal official claims this was yelled at Baldwin before he fired the weapon, and said it means “the gun is cold. No one need worry. But even that requires a little more explanation. Cold gun doesn’t mean no live bullets. There are for sure no live bullets on movie sets. Cold means you don’t even have the fake blank poof. It means it’s empty … can do no harm.”
Judge Sommer’s final ruling now draws a line under this long-running legal case. The closing sentiments were that the hubbub of the case should not detract from the tragic death of Halyna Hutchins, a talented 42-year-old Ukrainian cinematographer, and vital lessons must be learned by the film industry.