The New Mexico judge who dismissed the involuntary manslaughter case against Alec Baldwin has denounced the prosecution for misconduct, finding that it “intentionally and deliberately withheld” key evidence from the defense.
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First Judicial District Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer, in an order issued on Wednesday, faulted prosecutors for “willful and deliberate misconduct” warranting dismissal of charges against the actor. Lead special prosecutor Kari Morrissey, she found, not only repeatedly failed to fulfill discovery obligations but also gave “inconsistent” testimony related to the evidence she suppressed.
Baldwin’s involuntary manslaughter trial abruptly ended in stunning fashion on July 12 after an unexpected, labyrinthian hearing over how police and prosecutors treated a handful of bullets. It related to retired Arizona police officer Troy Teske turning over a collection of live ammunition to the Santa Fe Sheriff’s Office. While the bullets were taken in by crime scene technician Marissa Poppell, they weren’t inventoried with the Rust case, effectively hiding the evidence from Baldwin and armorer Hannah Gutierrez.
In Teske’s telling, the rounds he handed over had Starline brass casings with nickel primers that matched the live bullet that killed Rust cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, according to lawyers for Baldwin.
When Morrissey took the stand to defend her decision, a rare move in which she was essentially cornered into inserting herself into the case to defend its integrity, she said, “there is absolutely nothing about the ammunition that Troy Teske had that has any evidentiary value in the Gutierrez case.” Morrissey repeatedly stressed that the bullets didn’t match the round that killed Hutchins, and thus, didn’t need to be provided to the defense.
But when Sommer examined the ammunition in open court with the prosecution and defense surrounding her, some of the rounds appeared to resemble those found on set after the shooting.
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The court, in Wednesday’s order, said Morrissey “made the deliberate, intentional decision to place the Teske-supplied ammunition” under a non- Rust case to suppress the evidence. These materials, she found, could’ve absolved Baldwin.
“Evidence regarding the source of the live round that killed Ms. Hutchins, and additional information concerning how that live round arrived on the Rust set, likely affects the jury’s calculus of proximate cause and negligence by a third person or persons,” the judge explained.
The late disclosure altered the blueprint for Baldwin’s defense because his lawyers couldn’t forensically analyze the bullets, according to the order. Sommer stated, “Given the State’s egregious discovery violations constituting misconduct and the false testimony elicited during trial, dismissal with prejudice is the appropriate remedy.”
Morrissey was appointed to the case after several missteps by Andrea Reeb, the former special prosecutor initially tapped to handle it. This included citing a firearm law that wasn’t in effect at the time of the shooting and embarking on a media tour to discuss the case. Reeb was later forced to step down due to a conflict of interest with her elected position in the New Mexico House of Representatives, with leaked emails indicating that she sought to leverage the case for political gain.
Judge Dismisses Alec Baldwin's 'Rust' Trial
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