SANTA FE, N.M.: The involuntary manslaughter trial of Alec Baldwin in New Mexico was paused on Friday as the judge reviews a defense motion to dismiss the case due to contested ammunition evidence. Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer dismissed the jury for the day, instructing them to return on Monday after further testimony is heard outside their presence.
In the ongoing trial related to the shooting death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of the film “Rust” in 2021, the defense has argued that prosecutors hid evidence about the ammunition. They claim this evidence could be crucial to the case. However, the prosecution maintains that the ammunition in question was not connected to the incident and was not hidden.
“We don’t know if it’s a live ammunition match or not,” Baldwin’s attorney Luke Nikas told the judge. “But we do know that the state had it, and it’s disclosable.”
The prosecution has stated that the ammunition in question was not related to the case and was not concealed.
On the second day of the trial, Baldwin’s lawyer, Alex Spiro, questioned sheriff’s crime scene technician Marissa Poppell. He suggested that Poppell and other authorities were too close to the film’s firearms supplier, Seth Kenney, and did not thoroughly investigate whether Kenney was responsible for the live bullets reaching the set.
Special prosecutor Kari Morrissey established that the source of the ammunition was Troy Teske, a friend of the father of the film’s armorer, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed. Gutierrez-Reed has been convicted of involuntary manslaughter for her role in Halyna Hutchins’ death and was sentenced to 18 months in prison. She is currently appealing her conviction.
Morrissey said the bullets were not the same size or chemical composition as the live rounds found on the “Rust” set, including the one that killed Hutchins.
“This is a wild goose chase that has no evidentiary value whatsoever,” Morrissey told the judge Friday. “This is just a man trying to protect his daughter.”
(With AP inputs)
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