Alec Baldwin's trial for involuntary manslaughter took a turn on Friday, 12 July, as the judge found that a key evidence in the fatal shooting on the sets of Rust was withheld from the defense, and dismissed the case, as per reports.
The judge, presiding over the case in New Mexico's Santa Fe, observed that the bullets potentially linked to the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins that could have been favourable to Baldwin's case had not been shared with his lawyers by both the police and prosecutors.
Baldwin immediately burst into tears.
"The state's willful withholding of this information was intentional and deliberate. 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," publications quoted judge Marlowe Sommer as saying.
"The court concludes that this conduct is highly prejudicial to the defendant," Sommer added.
In October 2021, during a rehearsal Baldwin was holding a gun in the direction of Hutchins when the weapon was fired, killing Hutchins and wounding the film's director.
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