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Judge pauses Alec Baldwin manslaughter trial after defense alleges government misconduct

The judge overseeing the manslaughter trial of actor Alec Baldwin halted testimony Friday and sent the jury home for the day as she considered a new motion by the actor’s legal team to have the case thrown out based on allegations prosecutors did not properly turn over evidence.

In court a day earlier, a crime scene technician testified that a man had delivered some ammunition to the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office in March after the conviction of “Rust” armorer Hannah Gutierrez Reed. However, the defense blamed the film’s armorer and the first assistant director – jointly in charge of firearm safety on set – for allowing a real bullet to be loaded into the prop gun and failing to make it safe before it reached Baldwin. The case has been marked by years-long fits and starts with turnovers in prosecutors, a prosecution stalled by questions surrounding the integrity of evidence and a steady spate of motions from Baldwin’s team attempting to get the charge thrown out.

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