US actor Alec Baldwin hugs a member of his legal team at the conclucion of his trial on involuntary manslaughter at Santa Fe County District Court in Santa Fe, New Mexico, on 12 July 2024. (Ramsay De Give/POOL/AFP)
Alec Baldwin has thanked his supporters after his involuntary manslaughter trial was dismissed.
“There are too many people who have supported me to thank just now,” Baldwin wrote on Instagram. “To all of you, you will never know how much I appreciate your kindness toward my family.”
A judge dismissed Alec Baldwin’s trial for involuntary manslaughter on Friday, ruling that key evidence over a fatal shooting on the set of Rust had been withheld from the defence.
“There is no way for the court to right this wrong,” Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer said.
The judge stated that 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 police and prosecutors, according to AFP.
The actor and his wife Hilaria broke out into tears as the judge made the decision.
Baldwin, 66, was facing up to 18 months in prison if found guilty. The trial had started last week Wednesday, where the actor was accused of violating basic gun safety rules and playing “make-believe” with a deadly weapon.
It was later revealed that live rounds were found in the cartridge belts of Baldwin and another actor, Jensen Ackles, on the set of Rust.
Additional reporting by AFP.