Actor Alec Baldwin issued his first public comment on his involuntary manslaughter trial for the 2021 shooting of Halyna Hutchins during the filming of Rust after the judge astonishingly threw out the case.
“There are too many people who have supported me to thank just now,” Baldwin wrote on Instagram, attached to a photo of him in the courtroom. “To all of you, you will never know how much I appreciate your kindness toward my family.”
Baldwin received an outpouring of support from celebrities and friends underneath the post, with CNN Host Don Lemon commenting a heart, and from Melrose Place alum Daphne Zuniga, before he disabled the comments.
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First Judicial District Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer’s astounding decision to dismiss the case shocked the actor and his supporters, with the defense team looking on as Baldwin sobbed after hearing the verdict. The judge chose to throw out the case over improper evidence holding by the prosecution after they produced a fat manila folder full of unexamined evidence that the defense hadn’t had the chance to review yet.
Sommer said dismissing the case was the only “warranted remedy” for the prosecution's blunder.
“There is no way for the court to right this wrong,” Sommer added.
The court also decided that Baldwin can’t be retried for the case, effectively ending the criminal proceedings against him, although the family can choose to pursue him in civil court.
Gloria Allred, the Hutchins family attorney, appeared to imply the family would be doing just that.
“We’ll fight to the end,” Allred insisted in a press conference outside the courthouse Saturday, according to CNN. “We’re gonna fight to the end for Halyna Hutchins.”
Hutchins left behind her husband and their first and only child, Andros, who was nine-years-old at the time of his mother’s death.
