Alec Baldwin Rust Manslaughter Charges Dismissed

Baldwin’s defense attorneys filed the motion to dismiss with prejudice after learning local prosecutors withheld evidence regarding the live ammunition that found its way into the fully functioning replica six-shooter that fired while Baldwin was preparing to film a scene for the Rust Western being filmed near Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Marlowe told the prosecutors there was no way for the court to correct their actions and enable the case to proceed. Sommer instead dismissed the case with prejudice because U.S. criminal law requires prosecutors to share all evidence with respective defense teams, including evidence that could help the accused beat one or more charges. 

The ruling and its very significant impact prompted Baldwin to weep upon learning the criminal case was over, and he would walk out of the courtroom a free man. The trial was on its third day at the Santa Fe courthouse when Judge Sommer dismissed the case with prejudice. Baldwin embraced his wife, Hilaria, as he prepared to exit the courtroom with the weight of the accidental shooting lifted from his shoulders.

The Alec Baldwin-produced Rust movie was being filmed at the Bonanza Creek Ranch in Bonanza Creek, New Mexico, when the tragic unintentional shooting occurred. 

Hutchins was the cinematographer Alec Baldwin hired for the Rust film and accidentally shot, along with the film’s director, while practicing drawing the fully functioning pistol. The same shot that killed Hutchins passed through her body and struck director Joel Souza in one shoulder. Hutchins died from her wound, while Souza survived but needed medical attention.

Baldwin consistently maintained he never squeezed the trigger and thought the firearm was loaded with blanks, as it should have been. Live ammunition isn’t allowed on film sets, nor are fully functioning firearms. 

Friday’s ruling also means the film’s armorer, Hannah Guttierez-Reed, might have her conviction overturned. She earlier was convicted of involuntary manslaughter in the same courthouse in March and was sentenced to serve 18 months in prison. Her attorney, Jason Bowels, said he immediately would seek her release from prison and called the prosecution’s suppression of potentially exculpatory evidence “absolutely shocking.” Alec Baldwin’s Rust film production might even resume filming. 

Hutchins’ family in October 2022 settled a civil lawsuit against Alec Baldwin and the Rust film’s production company. Filming was to resume in January 2023, but the criminal cases against Baldwin and Guttierrez-Reed halted those plans. Hutchin’s surviving husband, Matthew Hutchins, was to serve as an executive producer when the film project resumed.

The accidental shooting death and subsequent criminal trials generated global publicity for the film. Baldwin’s successful dismissal motion and the potential overturning of the conviction against the film’s armorer adds to the film production’s intrigue, which might translate into a larger potential audience if the film is completed.