Judge in Baldwin Case Saw 'Signs of Scorching Prejudice'

Alec Baldwin on Saturday issued his first public comment since a New Mexico judge dismissed his involuntary manslaughter trial the day before. "There are too many people who have supported me to thank just now," the actor wrote in an Instagram post that included a photo of him in the Santa Fe courtroom, per the AP. "To all of you, you will never know how much I appreciate your kindness toward my family." He had broken down in the courtroom as the judge angrily ripped the prosecution's handling of evidence, the Los Angeles Times reports. Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer said there were "signs of scorching prejudice" among prosecutors against Baldwin. "There is no way for the court to right this wrong," she said.

Baldwin's lawyers repeatedly had complained to the judge about prosecutors' actions, and the outcome raises fresh questions about how they and law enforcement officers handled the nearly three-year case concerning the shooting death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on a film set. Erlinda O. Johnson, one of the state's two special prosecutors, resigned from the case Friday afternoon. The other, Kari Morrissey, told reporters outside court that she respects the judge's decision but disagrees with it. The "importance of the evidence was misconstrued by the defense attorneys," she said, per the New York Times.

The evidence at issue was ammunition that was taken to the sheriff's office on the day when Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, the armorer who put a live round in the gun Baldwin fired, was convicted of involuntary manslaughter. It hasn't been clear how the live ammunition got to the set. Troy Teske told officers he believed the ammunition he was delivering was related to the case. Baldwin's team said it wasn't informed about the development. Morrissey said the ammunition had no connection to the case, per NBC News, while defense lawyers said they should've been given a chance to decide whether it did. Sommer sided with Baldwin. "The late discovery of this evidence during trial has impeded the effective use of evidence in such a way that it has impacted the fundamental fairness of the proceedings," she told the courtroom on Friday in dismissing the case. (More Alec Baldwin stories.)