In a significant development, the judge overseeing actor Alec Baldwin’s manslaughter trial made the decision to halt testimony on Friday. She sent the jury home for the day to consider a new motion filed by Baldwin’s legal team. The motion requested the case be dismissed based on allegations that prosecutors did not properly turn over evidence.
During the previous day’s court session, a crime scene technician named Marissa Poppell testified that a man named Troy Teske had delivered ammunition to the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office in March. Teske, a retired police officer and friend of “Rust” armorer Hannah Gutierrez Reed’s father, believed the ammunition could be linked to the “Rust” incident.
However, Poppell clarified that the items were catalogued separately from Baldwin’s case and were not included in the “Rust” case inventory. They were also not tested to determine if they matched the lethal round.
Following this revelation, Baldwin’s defense team argued that prosecutors did not disclose this evidence properly and sought to have the case dismissed. In response, prosecutor Kari Morrissey stated that the ammunition was not a match to those found on the “Rust” set and had no evidentiary value to the case.
In an unusual turn of events, Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer called for Poppell to return to the stand to discuss the rounds outside the presence of the jury. The witness, judge, and attorneys all wore blue gloves as they examined the rounds in question to determine if they matched those recovered from the film set.
The judge has ordered additional witnesses to testify before making a ruling on Baldwin’s motion to dismiss the case. Poppell is expected to be cross-examined by the prosecution, with other witnesses such as prop supplier Seth Kenney, Detective Alexandria Hancock, and attorney Jason Bowles also set to testify.
The motion to dismiss the case comes early in Baldwin’s involuntary manslaughter trial, which is related to the fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of “Rust” in 2021. Baldwin has pleaded not guilty and could face up to 18 months in prison if convicted.
The trial began with prosecutors alleging that Baldwin was reckless with firearms on set and violated firearm safety rules. The defense, however, placed blame on the film’s armorer and first assistant director for allowing a real bullet to be loaded into the prop gun.
“This was an unspeakable tragedy, but Alec Baldwin committed no crime. He was an actor, acting, playing the role of Harlan Rust,” said defense attorney Alex Spiro. The case has faced multiple delays and motions from Baldwin’s team attempting to have the charge thrown out.
