Alec Baldwin released an official response after his involuntary manslaughter trial was dismissed.
“There are too many people who have supported me to thank just now,” Baldwin, 66, wrote via Instagram on Saturday, July 13. “To all of you, you will never know how much I appreciate your kindness toward my family.”
A New Mexico judge ruled on Friday, July 12, to dismiss the charges against the actor following the fatal 2021 shooting on set of his movie Rust. First Judicial District judge Mary Marlowe Sommer ruled that prosecutors hid evidence that could have been linked to the incident, concurring with Baldwin’s attorneys.
“There is no way for the court to right this wrong,” Sommer told the court, dismissing the case with prejudice. “The sanction of dismissal is the only warranted remedy.”
Baldwin stood trial beginning earlier this week on two counts of involuntary manslaughter after Rust cinematographer Halyna Hutchins died on set. In October 2021, Baldwin held a prop gun that fired a single round that killed 42-year-old Hutchins and injured film director Joel Souza.
“The trigger wasn’t pulled. I didn’t pull the trigger,” Baldwin said during an interview with ABC News at the time. “I would never point a gun at anyone and pull the trigger at them. Never. I have no idea [how a bullet got in there]. Someone put a live bullet in a gun. A bullet that wasn’t even supposed to be on the property.”
According to Baldwin, the accident was the “worst thing” that’s ever happened to him as he denied that he was aware the firearm had a bullet lodged inside.
Prosecutors charged Baldwin and Rust armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed with two counts each of involuntary manslaughter in January 2023. Gutierrez-Reed was sentenced in April to 18 months in prison. Baldwin, for his part, pleaded not guilty to the charges ahead of his trial earlier this month.
Alec was joined in court by his wife, Hilaria Baldwin, and his brother Stephen Baldwin. The family members were seen weeping after the trial was dismissed on Friday. Halyna’s widow, husband Matthew Hutchins, meanwhile, reacted to the news in a statement to Us Weekly.
“We respect the court’s decision,” attorney Brian J. Panish, who represents Matthew, told Us Weekly in a Friday statement. “We look forward to presenting all the evidence to a jury and holding Mr. Baldwin accountable for his actions in the senseless death of Halyna Hutchins.”
Matthew previously filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Alec and the Rust team, which was settled in June 2023.
