Alec Baldwin’s ‘Rust’ Trial Derailed After Surprise Bullets Revealed in Court

SANTA FE, N.M. — Alec Baldwin‘s manslaughter trial has been derailed, as a judge asked pointed questions about why a batch of bullets were not turned over to the defense.

Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer is considering Baldwin’s motion to throw out the case. The defense contends that prosecutors deliberately hid bullets that were turned over to investigators in March, and which are relevant to the case.

Erlinda Johnson, one of two special prosecutors, resigned from the case on Friday amid turmoil over the evidence.

Baldwin is on trial for shooting cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of “Rust” in 2021. The jury was scheduled to hear testimony on Friday from the lead detective. But the judge sent the jury home on Friday morning so she could delve more deeply into the failure to turn over the bullets.

In an afternoon hearing, Marlowe Sommer pointedly asked Cpl. Alexandria Hancock about why the bullets were logged under a separate case number, putting them out of reach of the defense.

“Why was that determination made?” Marlowe Sommer asked. “Who made it?”

Hancock answered that she had made the decision in consultation with her supervisors and with Kari Morrissey, the lead prosecutor.

In a highly unusual move, Morrissey then called herself to the witness stand to give her account of the events. She said she did not believe the bullets had evidentiary value.

The Baldwin trial began on Wednesday. Leading up to the trial, the defense repeatedly charged that the prosecution had hidden reams of information — including forensic reports, emails, and lapel videos — until the eve of the trial.

On Friday morning, Marlowe Sommer donned blue rubber gloves and opened an evidence envelope containing the bullets. She had them displayed on a table in front of the judge’s bench. Some of them appeared to match the Starline Brass live bullets found on the set of “Rust.”