Alec Baldwin's brothers and daughter Ireland, 28, react with joy after his Rust shooting manslaughter case is dismissed: 'God is good'
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Alec Baldwin's brothers and daughter Ireland expressed their gratitude after his manslaughter case over the 2021 Rust shooting was dismissed.
The judge in Santa Fe, New Mexico said the prosecution made errors in handling certain bullets that were regarded as evidence, and argued that the mistakes 'impacted the fundamental fairness of the case.'
However the prosecutor countered that the bullets in question were left out of the the Rust case file because they came from a source she mistrusted and did not 'even match the evidence that was found at the scene' of the shooting.
Baldwin, 66, went to trial nearly three years after he accidentally shot and killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of his upcoming western Rust with a gun being used as a prop.
Now, with the case dismissed, his family have shared their ecstatic reactions, including his brother Stephen Baldwin who wrote on Instagram: 'Dismissed with Extreme Prejudice - nothing can stop what has been set into motion - Hallelujah.'
Alec Baldwin's brothers and daughter Ireland erupted with jubilation after his manslaughter case over the Rust shooting was dismissed; Ireland and Alec pictured in 2019
The 58-year-old, who is a publicly devout Christian, exulted: 'God is good,' adding 'love you bro' and concluding: 'that’s a [wrap] !!!'
Billy Baldwin, one of Alec's other brothers, expressed his excitement by posting a string of headlines about the case dismissal to his Insta Stories.
Meanwhile Alec's brother Daniel Baldwin posted a video explaining that he and his wife were about to travel to Santa Fe to show their support.
However they no longer needed to as 'the case was dismissed, the judge saw through all the nonsense and for some legal reasons, and so Alec has been totally exonerated and the case is done,' he asserted.
'But I wanted to take the time to say thank you so much. I want to reach out to all those people who supported my brother, who have written so many lovely messages to me and congratulations today for Alec. I just wanted to say, thank you for all the love and the friendship. I really appreciate you and God bless you all.'
The defendant's daughter Ireland, 28, whom he had with his first wife Kim Basinger, responded to the dismissal by posting a throwback picture of herself as a little girl sitting on her father's lap as he lay on the sofa.
Hours after the case was thrown out, Alec and Hilaria Baldwin enjoyed a celebratory dinner at the Santa Fe restaurant Casa Chimayo with a group that included Stephen, who had been in the city supporting his brother through the trial.
On the other end of the spectrum, Halyna Hutchins' grieving widower demanded justice after Baldwin's case was dismissed.
The actor, 66, grew emotional as he heard that the case against him was being thrown out
Alec Baldwin (second from right) is pictured with his brothers Billy, Stephen and Daniel Baldwin in 2010; all of them shared delighted reactions to his triumph
The defendant's daughter Ireland, 28, whom he had with his first wife Kim Basinger, responded to the dismissal by posting a throwback picture with him
Matthew Hutchins, who was married to the victim for 16 years, said in a statement after the shock ruling that he 'respects the court's decision' but hoped proceedings against the actor were not done for good.
'We look forward to presenting all the evidence to a jury and holding Mr. Baldwin accountable for his actions in the senseless death of Halyna', he said.
It comes after Baldwin broke down in tears and hugged his wife as his involuntary manslaughter case was sensationally dismissed.
The extraordinary decision came after a day-long hearing without the jury present over bullets that should have been in evidence, which Baldwin's lawyers claimed were 'concealed' from them and 'buried' in another case file.
The issue had upended the trial for Baldwin who pleaded not guilty to two counts of involuntary manslaughter as he was accused of negligence for accidentally firing a live round on the set of the movie Rust in October 2021.
Baldwin broke down in tears and hugged his wife Hilaria as his involuntary manslaughter case was sensationally dismissed
Matthew Hutchins, who was married to victim Halyna Hutchins for 16 years (pictured with their son Andros), said in a statement after the shock ruling that he looks forward to 'holding Mr Baldwin accountable for his actions'
Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, 26, the armorer on the set of Rust, was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter earlier this year.
She was later jailed for 18 months, a sentence Baldwin had faced if found guilty.
Now her elderly father has welcomed the sudden dismissal of Baldwin's manslaughter case – and says his daughter's conviction should now also be overturned.
Speaking exclusively to DailyMail.com, legendary Hollywood armorer Thell Reed, 81, said Hannah has been made a 'scapegoat' over the tragic shooting death of producer Hutchins, 42, in October 2022.
Reed said: 'Well, I think that's good [Baldwin's dismissal]. I think Hannah's case should also be dismissed.
Gutierrez-Reed, 27, was given an 18-month jail sentence in April after being convicted of a single charge of involuntary manslaughter.
She is currently serving her sentence at the Santa Fe County Adult Detention Facility and had been due to be called to the stand to testify in Baldwin's case.
Reed told DailyMail.com he hopes the tossing of Baldwin's case would now give his daughter grounds to appeal her own conviction and said she has been made a scapegoat by prosecutors.
He added: 'It should [be grounds for an appeal]. She didn't do anything wrong. They've absolutely made her a scapegoat.'
Baldwin holds hands with his wife Hilaria as he exits the courthouse on Friday, moments after his manslaughter case was dismissed by a judge
Cinematographer Halyna Hutchins died after being hit by a bullet from the prop gun that Baldwin was handling on the Rust film set in October 2021
The film set's armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed poses for mugshot after being convicted of involuntary manslaughter
Shortly after the decision to throw Baldwin's case out was read, his brother Stephen Baldwin shared on his Instagram a cryptic religious message, showing a speaker talk of how 'the whole court system can condemn you for the rest of your life.'
During the ill-tempered and chaotic hearing on Friday, Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer asked for the bullets to be brought into court where - in unusual scenes - she put on gloves and inspected them herself.
Baldwin's lawyer Luke Nikas told the court that the bullets were brought to police in Santa Fe in March this year by former police officer Troy Teske, who claimed they were the same kind that were used to shoot Hutchins.
Mr Nikas claimed that prosecutors 'buried' the bullets as evidence by giving it a different case number to the main Rust investigation.
As a result, when Baldwin's lawyers went to the police to view all the Rust ammunition in April, they were not shown it, a breach of evidentiary rules.
Moments before the ruling from the judge, the court heard that one of the two special prosecutors, Erlina Johnson, had quit the case.
In her ruling Judge Mary Marlow Sommer said that dismissal with prejudice was a 'very extreme sanction', but the threshold had been met.
She said that the 'suppressed evidence' had 'impacted the fundamental fairness of the case', and that prosecutors were 'highly culpable' for the errors and had 'unilaterally withheld' the details about the ammunition.
The judge said that the 'wilful withholding of information was intentional and deliberate', which was 'so near to bad faith as to show signs of scorching prejudice' and there was 'no way for the court to right this wrong'.
Photos taken by detectives with Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office show the aftermath of the incident in October 2021
The case was sensationally thrown out on Friday due to a disagreement over bullets admitted into evidence
Baldwin's attorneys successfully had the case thrown out as the judge agreed that the mishandled evidence 'impacted the fundamental fairness of the case'
Prosecutor Kari Morrissey countered that they had interviewed Teske last year and were skeptical of him because he is close friends with Thell Reed, the father of Gutierrez-Reed.
Morrissey said they concluded Teskey was sending them on a 'wild goose chase' to point the blame at somebody other than Gutierrez-Reed.
She said: 'It's a man (Thell Reed) trying to protect his daughter and providing information that doesn't even match the evidence that was found at the scene'.
In November last year Teske offered to send them the ammunition but he was in Arizona so Morrissey asked him to send a photo.
They didn't look like the live rounds taken from the set of Rust so Morrissey didn't ask for the bullets to be collected by a local police force, the court heard.
But Judge Marlowe Sommer expressed frustration during the hearing and pressed Cpl. Alexandria Hancock of the Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office about why the bullets were not put with the Rust file.
Cpl Hancock said that the decision was made after discussion with prosecutors
At one point Morrissey herself gave evidence in bizarre scenes where nobody had requested her to do so.
She insisted the ammunition from Teske were not similar to those found on the set of Rust, which is why she didn't want them analyzed further.
Baldwin, seen here outside the Santa Fe County Sheriff's offices on the day of the shooting, was had the charges against him brought twice
Friday's hearing grew contentious after the judge dismissed the case, as Baldwin's lawyer Alex Spiro pressed special prosecutor Kari Morrissey on her prejudice towards Baldwin.
She rejected this idea and said she actually 'appreciated Mr Baldwin's movies', adding: 'I appreciated the acting he did on Saturday Night Live and really appreciate his politics'.
Spiro asked if Morrissey had called Baldwin a 'c***sucker' and she said she didn't recall saying that, and said she didn't recall branding the actor an 'arrogant p***' to a witness.
Spiro said: 'You said you would teach him a lesson?'
Morrissey responded: 'I never said I would teach him a lesson... I made every effort to resolve this case in a very favorable way for him'.
