Alec Baldwin trial on hold as judge considers defence request to dismiss case

Alec Baldwin’s involuntary manslaughter trial was put on hold on Friday, while the judge considers a defence motion to dismiss the case over disputed ammunition.

Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer sent the jury home for the day, after a hearing on the issue that was supposed to precede the resumption of the trial raised more questions, and called for further evidence.

The defence filed its motion over what it says is ammunition evidence the prosecution hid from them that may be related to the shooting death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of the film Rust in 2021.

The movie set of Rust, at Bonanza Creek Ranch in Santa Fe. PA Media

The prosecution has said that the ammunition was not connected to the case and was not hidden.

The issue came up on Thursday during the defence questioning of sheriff’s crime scene technician Marissa Poppell.

Baldwin lawyer Alex Spiro suggested with his questions that Poppell and other authorities had been overly cosy with the film’s firearms supplier, Seth Kenney, and had insufficiently investigated whether he was responsible for the fatal ammunition reaching the set.

Special prosecutor Kari Morrissey established in her questioning that the source of the ammunition was Troy Teske, a friend of the father of the film’s armourer, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, who has already been convicted of involuntary manslaughter for her role in Hutchins’ death.

She was sentenced to 18 months in prison and is appealing against her conviction.

Morrissey said the bullets were not the same size or chemical composition as the live rounds found on the Rust set, including the one that killed Hutchins.