A New Mexico judge on Friday threw out the involuntary manslaughter case against actor Alec Baldwin in the shooting on the set of the movie “Rust” 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 defense in the shooting, according to The Associated Press.
Baldwin’s attorney had filed a motion to dismiss the case, citing the misconduct by state investigators. Sommer agreed that the state improperly disclosed evidence to the defense.
“There is no way for the court to right this wrong,” she said.
Baldwin was seen crying and embracing his attorneys after the decision was announced.
Baldwin was charged for a second time in January with involuntary manslaughter in connection to the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of “Rust” in October of 2021.
Previous charges against the actor were dropped last year, with New Mexico prosecutors saying at the time they had received new information about the incident warranting an additional forensic examination of the weapon.
Hutchins died after "Rust" armorer Hannah Gutierrez mistakenly loaded a live round into Baldwin's reproduction Colt .45 revolver during filming in a movie-set church near Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Gutierrez was found guilty in March of involuntary manslaughter and was sentenced in April to 18 months in prison.
Baldwin, who had pleaded not guilty, said he was directed to point the gun toward the camera, he cocked it, and it "went off" on its own.
(Israel National News' North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Israel National News articles, however, is Israeli time.)