New Mexico
Alec Baldwin’s high profile manslaughter trial thrown out by New Mexico judge
Alec Baldwin wept in court after his high-profile criminal trial, in which he faced involuntary manslaughter charges over the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, was thrown out by a New Mexico judge.
The case was dismissed on Friday after it was found that the state had withheld evidence that could have shed light on how live rounds got onto the set of the Rust movie, where the young cinematographer was fatally shot.
“There is no way for the court to right this wrong,” Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer said in court adding that dismissal of the case was needed to ensure “the integrity of the judicial system.”
“The late discovery of this evidence during trial has impeded the effective use of evidence in such a way that it has impacted the fundamental fairness of the proceedings,” Marlowe Sommer said. “If this conduct does not rise to the level of bad faith it certainly comes so near to bad faith to show signs of scorching.”
Baldwin, 66, became visibly emotional, holding his head in his hands and embracing his lawyer. He then turned around and embraced his wife, Hilaria Baldwin. Baldwin climbed into an SUV outside the Santa Fe courthouse and left without speaking to the media.
The decision was announced during a hearing after the jury had been dismissed for the weekend.
Sommer paused the trial earlier on Friday while she considered the defense motion to dismiss the case over the evidence. The prosecution said that the ammunition was not connected to the case and was not hidden.
The issue emerged on Thursday on the second day of the actor’s trial during defense questioning of the sheriff’s crime scene technician Marissa Poppell.
Baldwin lawyer Alex Spiro asked whether a “good Samaritan” had come into the sheriff’s office with the ammunition earlier this year at the end of the trial of Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, the film’s armorer, for her role in Hutchins’ death.
The evidence was not put into the same file as the rest of the “Rust” case and was not presented to Baldwin’s defense team when they examined the ballistics evidence in April.
The man who supplied ammunition was a close friend of Gutierrez-Reed’s father, movie armorer Thell Reed. Special prosecutor Kari Morrissey argued that the move from the men was part of an attempt by Reed to shift blame away from his daughter.
“This is a wild goose chase that has no evidentiary value whatsoever,” Morrissey told the judge on Friday. “This is just a man trying to protect his daughter.” Judge Marlowe disagreed.
As well as his wife, members of Baldwin’s family, including his younger brother Stephen Baldwin and older sister Elizabeth Keuchler — have been present in the courtroom to support him throughout proceedings, and also became emotional after the case was dismissed.
Nearly three years have passed since a prop gun Baldwin was holding went off during a rehearsal of the film’s shooting scene in 2021, striking and killing Hutchins and injuring director Joel Souza.
The star and co-producer of the Western was pointing a revolver at Hutchins during a rehearsal in a small church on the movie set at Bonanza Creek Ranch when the incident occurred. Baldwin has said he pulled back the hammer — but not the trigger — and the gun fired.
He was charged with a single felony count of involuntary manslaughter and faced 18 months in prison, an idea that sent shockwaves through the show business industry. The career of the “Hunt for Red October” and “30 Rock” star and frequent “Saturday Night Live” host — who has been a household name for more than three decades — was briefly cast into doubt.
Baldwin has continuously maintained his innocence and said in a previous interview with ABC News, and implied in interviews with authorities, that he never pulled the revolver’s trigger.
He and other producers still face civil lawsuits from Hutchins’ parents and sister.
Speaking outside the courthouse doors, Morrissey said she respected the judge’s decision but that there was no reason to believe the undisclosed evidence in question was related to the set of “Rust.”
“The importance of the evidence was misconstrued by the defense attorneys,” she said. “We did everything humanly possible to bring justice to Halyna and to her family and we’re proud of the work we did.”
Gutierrez-Reed herself had been expected to testify Friday, but her testimony was delayed. She was convicted of involuntary manslaughter and was sentenced to 18 months in prison earlier this year, though is appealing the verdict.
After news of the Baldwin trial collapse on Friday, lawyers for the armorer said they would also be seeking to have charges against her dismissed.
“The judge found intentional misconduct and we also have had the same failures in Hannah’s case, by the State. We will be moving for dismissal of Hannah’s case,” said Jason Bowles, the attorney for Gutierrez-Reed.
The family of Halyna Hutchins also issued a statement through their lawyer.
“We respect the court’s decision. 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,” it read.
CHIMAYO, N.M. (KRQE) – A suspect is dead following a shooting involving the Rio Arriba County Sheriff’s Office in Chimayo on Highway 76. Deputies are said to be okay. New Mexico State Police is investigating the shooting.
KRQE News 13 will provide updates as they become available.
LAS CRUCES, N.M. (KFOX14/CBS4) — A leader in the New Mexico Republican Party was arrested Wednesday, accused of a deadly hit-and-run in Las Cruces.
Former Treasurer of the Republican Party in New Mexico, Kimberly Ann Skaggs, 54, was arrested Wednesday and charged with leaving the scene and tampering with evidence, jail records show.
Police documents show the charges stem from a deadly hit-and-run crash that happened Monday afternoon, which killed 40-year-old bicyclist, Andrew Brown.
Investigators believed Skaggs was involved after an investigation revealed that Skaggs allegedly was driving fast in the area, fled the scene after the crash and then tried to hide the vehicle from authorities.
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The investigation
According to police documents, a witness at the scene of the crash– 850 N. Fairacres Rd.– described seeing a dark blonde-haired woman flee in a black Cadillac Escalade SUV.
Afterwards, investigators said they saw on Flock cameras– A.I. powered license plate readers– a black Cadillac Escalade traveling near the site of the crash minutes before the incident.
READ MORE: Dona Ana County expands Flock license plate cameras as officials cite crime-solving gains
The license plates showed that the vehicle belonged to Skaggs and that, in September 2025, the Las Cruces Police Department had given her a citation for “racing on streets-exhibition driving.”
Investigators stated that a business on Picacho Ave. captured what they alleged was the same black Cadillac Escalade driving fast.
Then, the documents described how investigators tracked down the Escalade using OnStar’s live GPS tracking, discovering the SUV was at a property on the 5000 block of Northwind Road, which investigators said the Dona Ana County Assessors Office confirmed is a property owned by Skaggs.
On Tuesday, at around 6:41 p.m.– over 24 hours after the deadly hit-and-run– investigators executed a search warrant on the property and described finding the black Cadillac Escalade behind a home, under a red metal carport.
Investigators noted damage on the SUV consistent with the crash, highlighting that there was blood splatter near one of the front tires, markings on the front bumper consistent with hitting a bicycle and parts missing, which investigators said were the same parts found at the scene.
Dona Ana County jail records show Skaggs was booked on Wednesday afternoon and remains jailed without a bond.
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About Skaggs
On the official website of the Republican Party of New Mexico, Skaggs was listed as the treasurer before she was removed.
KFOX14/CBS4 has reached out to the Republican Party to learn more and are waiting for a comment regarding the arrest.
Also, according to election statistics, Skaggs ran for State Representative in District 36 in 2022 and 2024, losing both times to Democrat Nathan P. Small.
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SANTA FE, N.M. – Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham asked Attorney General Raúl Torrez to investigate whether any Drug Enforcement Administration agents broke state law when pills reached New Mexico streets.
In a statement, Lujan Grisham said, “make no mistake: the DEA knew people would die if these pills made it into New Mexico communities.”
The governor also shared a timeline from 2022 to 2025 that she said shows when she asked federal officials for help with New Mexico’s fentanyl crisis and violent crime.
Lujan Grisham said the first request came on June 21, 2022, when she wrote to then-Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Christopher Wray and asked for 50 additional federal agents.
She said she wrote to then-Attorney General Merrick Garland on Sept. 15, 2022, asking for more agents, resources and support for New Mexico law enforcement.
Lujan Grisham said she wrote Garland a second time on Aug. 8, 2023, with the same request.
What came next?
About a month later, Lujan Grisham said she sent Garland a third letter and said New Mexico needed more federal law enforcement to curb violent crime, drug trafficking and human trafficking.
She said her most recent request came on Sept. 4, 2025, when she wrote to former Attorney General Pam Bondi and again asked for additional agents and resources.
The governor’s statement says those requests span several years as she pressed the federal government for more help in New Mexico.
Full statement from Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham:
“I am appalled by reporting this week by the Associated Press and Albuquerque Journal that revealed federal authorities made a deliberate decision to let hundreds of thousands of fentanyl pills flood into New Mexico communities, despite knowing that fentanyl is so lethal the White House has designated it a weapon of mass destruction.
Let me say that again: the Drug Enforcement Administration watched as 74,000 fentanyl pills were delivered to a mobile home park in Albuquerque, and they did nothing. And that’s just one transaction. Shockingly, the federal government stood by while monitoring shipments, tallying exact pill counts, and watching as these deadly drugs hit the streets.
There are no words to describe how reckless and dangerous these decisions were. Make no mistake: the DEA knew people would die if these pills made it into New Mexico communities, and the agency let it happen anyway. The result: hundreds of New Mexican parents burying their kids. Hundreds of New Mexican kids growing up without stable parents. All while the federal government stood by.
If the justification for letting these pills flood our communities was that it would somehow make New Mexico safer down the road through bigger eventual busts, the results say otherwise. New Mexico now leads the nation in the increase in overdose deaths for the second straight year, despite deaths dropping nationwide.
Today, I wrote to Attorney General Raúl Torrez and asked him to investigate whether any federal agents broke state law when they allowed lethal drugs to remain on our streets, and to prosecute anyone responsible — regardless of whether they are a federal agent or not.
I have spent years working across two administrations — writing letters, traveling to Washington, meeting directly with President Joe Biden and his cabinet, pushing for accountability, asking for more federal agents to be deployed to New Mexico to help fight this crisis.
- On June 21, 2022, I wrote to FBI Director Christopher Wray, imploring the FBI to assign no less than 50 additional agents to New Mexico to stem escalating drug trafficking and violent crime.
- On September 15, 2022, I wrote to Attorney General Merrick Garland, requesting that the Department of Justice provide additional federal agents, resources and support to New Mexico law enforcement. We asked the department to match the level of investigative, analytical, and technical resources the FBI had deployed in its Buffalo, NY surge.
- On August 8, 2023, I wrote again to Attorney General Garland, renewing my request that the DOJ expeditiously assign more federal agents to New Mexico.
- On September 7, 2023, I wrote to Attorney General Garland for a third time, reiterating my request once more federal law enforcement support to curb violent crime, drug and human trafficking.
- On September 4, 2025, I wrote to Attorney General Pam Bondi, once again requesting additional agents and resources.
I have declared the surge of drugs like fentanyl to be a public health emergency. I have deployed the National Guard to both Albuquerque and Española. While my administration was doing everything we could to stem the tide of fentanyl coming into our state, the federal government deliberately allowed it to flood in.
New Mexican lives are not the federal government’s cost of doing business.
I plan to hold the federal government accountable for this disaster and will explore every possible avenue of action against the federal government to right these wrongs.”
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