Alec Baldwin and wife Hilaria Baldwin shed tears of relief following the dismissal of his involuntary manslaughter trial, but they know there’s more to come.
“Alec and Hilaria did not celebrate after the ruling,” a source exclusively tells Us Weekly. “Despite the ruling, it’s still a devastating situation. They are not planning to celebrate. This has been a private family moment for them with an overall feeling of relief, but they know more lies ahead.”
A New Mexico judge ruled on Friday, July 12, that charges against the actor after the fatal 2021 shooting of Halyna Hutchins on the set of his movie Rust be dismissed. Alec was joined in court by Hilaria and his brother Stephen Baldwin.
“Alec and Hilaria left New Mexico right away with their baby and daughter Carmen and went home to New York,” the source told Us. “They’re glad they can spend time with their children as a family.” The couple, who share 7 children, were accompanied in New Mexico by their oldest daughter Carmen, 10, and baby Ilaria, 18 months.
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Following the dismissal, attorney Gloria Allred told Variety that the judge’s ruling “is in no way, shape, or form an exoneration” of Baldwin, and promised the legal battle would continue in civil court. Allred, who represents Hutchins’ family members who live in Ukraine, filed a civil suit in Santa Fe on behalf of parents, Olga Solovey and Anatolii Androsovych, as well as her sister Svetlana Zemko.
Alec stood trial last week on two counts of involuntary manslaughter after the death of 42-year-old Hutchins, the film’s cinematographer, on the set of Rust in October 2021. At the time, Alec had fired a prop gun that contained a live round, which killed Hutchins and injured director Joel Souza.
First Judicial District Judge Mary Morlowe Sommer dismissed the case with prejudice after she ruled that prosecutors had hidden evidence. “There is no way for the court to right this wrong,” Sommer told the court on Friday. “The sanction of dismissal is the only warranted remedy.”
Alec, who had pleaded not guilty to the charges, released an official statement following the trial’s dismissal via Instagram on Saturday, July 13. “There are too many people who have supported me to thank just now,” he captioned his post. “To all of you, you will never know how much I appreciate your kindness toward my family.”
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Hutchins’ widower, her husband Matthew Hutchins, shared a statement with Us after the court’s ruling through his attorney Brian J. Panish. (Matthew filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Alec and the Rust team that was settled in June last year.)
“We respect the court’s decision,” Panish told Us on Friday. “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.”
Apart from Alec, Rust armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed was also charged with two counts of involuntary manslaughter, though she stood trial in April and was sentenced to 18 months in prison.
