Alec Baldwin’s involuntary manslaughter trial has been put on hold following a motion by his legal team to dismiss the case over a claim that ammunition evidence was hidden.
On day three of Baldwin‘s trial, the actor’s lawyers said the Santa Fe sheriff’s office took possession of live rounds as evidence in the case but failed to list them in the Rust investigation file or disclose their existence to defence lawyers.
“This was hidden from us,” the actor’s lawyer Alex Spiro told a sheriff’s office crime scene technician under cross-examination during a hearing on the motion, while jurors were not in the courtroom.
Prosecutors say the ammunition was not connected to the case and was not hidden.
Hilaria Baldwin is supporting her husband in court. Pic: Ramsay de Give/Pool Photo via AP
Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer later called the jury in only to send them home for the day, so she can hear further evidence on the motion. She told them to return on Monday.
Baldwin is on trial charged with involuntary manslaughter over the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, who died after a gun held by the actor fired on the set of the Western film in New Mexico in October 2021. The 66-year-old has pleaded not guilty.
He has always maintained he did not pull the gun’s trigger, that it went off accidentally, and that he was not responsible for safety checks on the weapon.
The defence’s motion to dismiss comes following their questioning of sheriff’s crime scene technician Marissa Poppell on Thursday.
They are accusing the state of concealing evidence concerning ammunition that a “good Samaritan” delivered to the crime scene technician following the trial of Rust armourer Hannah Gutierrez, who is serving 18 months in prison after being convicted for her role in the shooting earlier this year.
Baldwin’s lawyers say this came from the Rust prop supplier Seth Kenney and may be linked to Ms Hutchins’ death. The good Samaritan is former Arizona police officer Troy Teske, a friend of Gutierrez’s father and veteran Hollywood armourer Thell Reed.
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During Gutierrez’s trial, her defence claimed a box of dummy rounds she was pulling from on the day of the shooting came from Mr Kenney, but prosecutors dispelled those claims.
The state says the rounds later brought in by Mr Teske do not match live rounds found on set, as they were not the same size or chemical composition. Prosecutor Kari Morrissey called the attempt a “wild goose chase” by a man trying to protect his friend’s daughter.
She said the ammunition had no evidentiary value, but Baldwin’s defence team say it should have been disclosed.
It is not clear when the judge will rule on the defence’s motion, although NBC News, Sky’s US partner, says it could be later today.