The prosecutor in the “Rust” case has asked the judge to reconsider her decision to throw out the manslaughter charge against actor Alec Baldwin, and suggested the government may seek to reinstate the case on appeal. https://t.co/K0xc5QQLgb
— Variety (@Variety) September 5, 2024
Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer’s decision in July was prompted by the revelation that evidence had been deliberately withheld from the defense, according to Baldwin’s lawyers.
For her part, the prosecutor has rejected any malicious intent and now asserts before the judge that the evidence withheld – ammunition turned over to the sheriff’s office last March, shortly after the trial of Hannah Gutierrez Reed, the Rust gunsmith currently sentenced to 18 months in prison for manslaughter in the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, ended – had no connection with the ammunition used on set at the time of the incident.
During his trial this summer, the case came to an unexpected end when, during witness testimony, it was revealed that ammunition had been delivered to the New Mexico Sheriff’s Office by Troy Teske, a friend of Hannah Gutierrez Reed’s stepfather. The judge ultimately concluded that the prosecution had omitted crucial evidence and that it was impossible for the court to correct this error.
Her co-prosecutor, who resigned after this surprising discovery during Baldwin’s trial, also shares this sentiment, claiming that it was not a deliberate act.