A judge has dismissed the involuntary manslaughter case pertaining to actor Alec Baldwin.
Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer dismissed the case with prejudice, meaning the charge cannot be brought against the actor again.
“The state’s willful withholding of this information was intentional and deliberate,” Sommer said. “If this conduct does not rise to the level of bad faith, it certainly comes so near to bad faith as to show signs of scorching prejudice.”
“There is no way for the court to right this wrong,” the judge continued.
In May 2024, the judge rejected both of Baldwin’s arguments wishing to dismiss the grand jury process, concluding it wasn’t prejudiced against him, court documents revealed.
Baldwin was indicted on two counts, involuntary manslaughter, negligent use of a firearm, or, in the alternative, involuntary manslaughter without due caution earlier this year.
His legal team met in court virtually, where they said the prosecution did not follow the rules during the grand jury process.
“The way this is supposed to work is the grand jury’s in a week, there’s all these witnesses that could come, you hit them with a subpoena, they come to the grand jury, or you have them on stand by, and you talk to them,” Alex Spiro, the lead lawyer on Baldwin’s team, said during the hearing. “This isn’t how you’re supposed to do it period.”
The witnesses “never” saw “an alert letter,” according to the lawyer.
Baldwin’s legal team argued the prosecution acted unethically and failed to present crucial evidence to a grand jury in their original motion to dismiss the indictment.
“Enough is enough,” the court documents stated. “This is an abuse of the system, and an abuse of an innocent person whose rights have been trampled to the extreme.”
Earlier this month, American Faith reported weapons supervisor Hannah Gutierrez-Reed was convicted of involuntary manslaughter in the fatal shooting.
The 12-member jury found Gutierrez-Reed guilty after finding the armorer responsible, in part, for Hutchins’ death.
The judge ordered that Gutierrez-Reed be remanded into custody as she faces up to 18 months in prison following the conviction.
