Alec Baldwin manslaughter case dismissed by judge

A case had been brought against the 66-year-old actor following the fatal shooting of a cinematographer on the set of the film Rust, as Caroline Lewis reports

A New Mexico judge unexpectedly threw out the involuntary manslaughter case against Alec Baldwin in the middle of his trial and said it cannot be filed again.

Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer dismissed the case with prejudice based on the misconduct of police and prosecutors over the withholding of evidence from the defence in the shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of the film Rust”.

Baldwin cried and embraced his attorneys after the decision was announced.

The actor arrived at his trial for the shooting in Santa Fe, New Mexico on Wednesday morning.

Baldwin was charged with involuntary manslaughter after he pointed a revolver at 42-year-old Ms Hutchins when it fired and killed her. He was set to face up to 18 months in prison.

He pleaded not guilty and claimed the gun fired accidentally after he followed instructions to point it at Ms Hutchins, who was behind the camera.

Baldwin said he pulled back the hammer, not the trigger, and it discharged, and that he was unaware it contained a live round,

The production company behind Rust had already agreed to pay a fine of $100,000 (£77,000) to the New Mexico Environment Department’s Occupational Health and Safety Bureau (OHSB) following the fatal shooting.

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