Hollywood couldn’t script it.
A world famous actor walks free after prosecutors are accused of a cover up, burying crucial evidence that could have helped the star’s case.
Throw in it was live streamed and reality cameras are following the leading man… and maybe you do have a box office hit.
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That is the real life scenario that played out in a Santa Fe, New Mexico court room this week after a judge ruled prosecutors did withhold evidence.
From act one, it was a complicated case.
In October 2021, cinematographer Halyna Hutchins was fatally shot on the set of ‘Rust’ as Alec Baldwin rehearsed a scene for the western.
There is no question Alec Baldwin was holding the gun.
The armourer, responsible for loading the weapon-Hannah Gutierrez-Reed – is currently serving an 18 month sentence convicted of involuntary manslaughter.
But prosecutors went after Baldwin.
They set out to prove he was negligent in handling the weapon and therefore criminally liable for the cinematographer’s death.
In their opening arguments they claimed the Emmy Award winner broke the “cardinal rule” of gun safety by pointing the gun at a person and pulling the trigger. “You will see him using this gun as a pointer to point at people,” argued Special prosecutor Erlinda Johnson.
Alec Baldwin’s high profile defence lawyer Alex Spiro hit back, “They’re not cardinal rules on a movie set.”
Arguing actors like Baldwin act “in ways that would be lethal in the real world but are not lethal on a movie set.”
Instead, placing the blame on other crew members tasked with checking the gun.
It was a battle to be closely watched by the industry.
Halyna’s tragic death has already seen changes in Hollywood, but jail time for Baldwin would have surely angered the union and other actors who’ve taken the stance-it’s not the actor’s job to check guns on set aren’t loaded with live rounds.
But in a stunning plot twist, three days in the trial was abandoned.
Remember the armourer? Well, she’s back, their stories intertwined.
Around the same time as her trial, a friend of her father delivered ammunition to Santa Fe police. He told investigators he believed it was associated with the Rust incident.
But it appears Santa Fe authorities weren’t buying his story. The bullets were never examined by the FBI, filed away under a separate case number to all the other ‘Rust’ evidence and never handed over in discovery.
A crucial mistake that has cost prosecutors.
The new evidence was brought into the court room and in a bizarre and highly unusual moment the Judge left the bench to examine the bullets. It soon became clear some did resemble rounds found on the set of ‘Rust.’
Case dismissed.
Alec Baldwin sobbed, his head in his hands.
He embraced his wife, and the coupe left the courthouse without saying a word. Sure to be a scene in his upcoming reality series.
So, was he reckless with a weapon, or an actor doing his job?
It’s now a question we’ll never have a legal answer to, the dismissal means it can never be tried again.
The defence never revealed how it found out about the bullets.
An unanswered question fit for a sequel- and there’ll be plenty of material the armourer is set to appeal.
