Judge Dismisses Involuntary Manslaughter Charges Against Alec Baldwin

A New Mexico judge has dismissed the involuntary manslaughter charges against Alec Baldwin after his defense attorneys raised issues related to the handling of evidence.

Baldwin's legal team filed the motion to dismiss, accusing prosecutors of hiding evidence. The filing was the result of testimony from Marissa Poppell, a crime scene technician, who told the court that Troy Teske, a retired police officer, had delivered ammunition to the Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office in March, suggesting it could have been associated with an on-set shooting that left cinematographer Halyna Hutchins dead.

Poppell then explained that the ammunition was cataloged but never turned over to the defense or tested to see if it matched the lethal round that struck Hutchins.

Prosecutors argued that the evidence was irrelevant to the case, calling the motion to dismiss a "wild goose chase."

After pausing the trial and sending the jury home, New Mexico First Judicial District Court Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer held a hearing on the matter and heard testimony from several people, including Poppell and Rust firearms supplier Seth Kenney. She also ordered Alexandria Hancock, the lead sheriff's investigator, and Jason Bowle, the defense attorney for the film's armor Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, to testify. Gutierrez-Reed was previously convicted of involuntary manslaughter and sentenced to 18 months in prison,