Alec Baldwin's involuntary manslaughter charge dropped in the "Rust" shooting

Alec Baldwin's criminal trial for alleged involuntary manslaughter ended abruptly and shockingly yesterday.

Alec Baldwin's involuntary manslaughter trial came to a close two days after it started and almost three years after the deadly "Rust" movie set shooting that gave rise to the accusation against him. The actor was visibly moved by the judge's eight words.

“Your motion to dismiss with prejudice is granted,” Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer told Baldwin and his legal team in court on Friday afternoon, prompting an already shaking Baldwin to remove his glasses and sob into his hand before embracing his wife, Hilaria.

Following nearly three years of back-and-forth legal arguments and prosecutor turnover, the verdict brought an end to Baldwin's trial, during which he could have been sentenced to up to 18 months in prison and $5,000 in fines in connection with the October 2021 shooting death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of the Western film "Rust."

On October 21, 2021, while practicing a "cross draw" at a church on the set of the movie in New Mexico, Baldwin was drawing a prop gun from a holster on his side opposite his draw hand. The gun fired a live round, killing Hutchins and wounding "Rust" director Joel Souza.

The prosecutors withheld information "possibly pointing to an external source of the live ammunition (prop supplier Seth Kenney) because the evidence would be favorable to Baldwin," according to court documents filed by Baldwin's defense team in a move to dismiss the case on Thursday.

Marlowe Sommer sided with the defense due to the evidence issue that was first raised on Thursday and granted the motion to dismiss with prejudice, meaning the case cannot be reopened, on Friday after a chaotic hearing in which one special prosecutor testified and another special prosecutor, Erlinda Johnson, resigned from the prosecution team that day.

The criminal proceedings against Baldwin were essentially concluded by the court's ruling that he could not be recharged in the case.

In an emotional Instagram post on Saturday, Alec Baldwin broke his silence about a New Mexico judge's startling decision to drop the involuntary manslaughter case against him related to the shooting death of "Rust" cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.

“There are too many people who have supported me to thank just now,” the actor, 66, wrote around 12:30 p.m. alongside a photo of himself in the Santa Fe courtroom.

“To all of you, you will never know how much I appreciate your kindness toward my family,” the father of eight added.

Powerhouse lawyer Gloria Allred, who represents Hutchins' parents and sister, reminded the audience during a press conference outside the courthouse on Saturday that Baldwin is still facing civil lawsuits related to the tragedy.