Alec Baldwin trial suspense as judge mulls motion to dismiss charge By Reuters

By Andrew Hay

SANTA FE, New Mexico (Reuters) – A New Mexico judge on Friday weighed a surprise request from Alec Baldwin’s lawyers to dismiss charges in his manslaughter trial, alleging police hid the existence of live rounds linked to the 2021 killing of „Rust” cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.

On the third day of Baldwin’s trial, judge Mary Marlowe Sommer sent home jurors as the court weighed the Baldwin team’s claims the Santa Fe sheriff’s office took possession of live rounds as evidence but failed to file them in the investigation or disclose their existence to defense lawyers.

„This was hidden from us,” Baldwin’s lawyer Alex Spiro told a sheriff’s office crime scene technician under cross examination out of jurors’ hearing.

Sommer outlined a plan to hear evidence on the motion in an afternoon session starting at 1 p.m. local time (1900 GMT). It was not clear when she would rule on it.

Baldwin appeared relieved in court after Marlowe dismissed the jury until Monday and called an early lunch break. The „30 Rock” actor smiled and hugged his wife Hilaria Baldwin and held the hand of his sister Elizabeth Keuchler.

University of New Mexico law professor Joshua Kastenberg, who has been following the case but is not involved, said the charge against Baldwin could be thrown out if the prosecution failed to disclose evidence to Baldwin’s lawyers or they did not know of the evidence until the trial started.

„A judge could dismiss if there was malfeasance on the part of the sheriff’s office,” Kastenberg said.

The technician, Marissa Poppel, said the rounds were not hidden from Baldwin and she was told to file them, and details on how they were obtained, under a different case number to the „Rust” case. Police did not ask the FBI to test the live rounds.

Poppel disputed Spiro’s assertion the Colt .45 ammunition handed into police on March 6 matched the round that killed Hutchins. She said she did not believe Spiro’s claim the ammunition proved props supplier Seth Kenney supplied the fatal live round.

Kenney has said he did not supply live rounds to „Rust” and he has not been charged. He was set to testify on Friday.

The rounds were handed into the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office by Troy Teske, a friend of Thell Reed, the stepfather of „Rust” armorer Hannah Gutierrez, on the same day Gutierrez was convicted of involuntary manslaughter for Hutchins’ death.

Prosecutor Kari Morrissey questioned the allegation that evidence was concealed from Baldwin.

„If you buried it how did the defense attorneys know to cross examine you about it yesterday?” asked Morrissey.

Teske, a retired police officer, gave police ammunition from a batch of live rounds Kenney and Reed used to train actors for filming of the movie „1883” in Texas, Baldwin’s defense said in its motion. Teske told prosecutors of the existence of the rounds in November 2023 and said he did not know whether they matched the fatal „Rust” round, the filing said.

The rounds were not presented by the sheriff’s office to the defense when they asked to see all ballistics evidence at an April 2024 evidence viewing, the motion said.

„It’s absolutely outrageous that they filed these rounds away under a different case number and never tested them,” said Gutierrez’s lawyer Jason Bowles. „The state tried to hide the ball.”

Prosecutors accused Gutierrez of bringing the live rounds onto the set, an allegation she denied.

Prosecutors allege Baldwin played a role in the death of Hutchins because he handled the gun irresponsibly. His lawyers say Baldwin was failed by Gutierrez and others responsible for set safety.