Alec Baldwin Smiles as He Steps Out for Dinner with Family After Rust Case Dismissal

Alec Baldwin is celebrating his court victory with his loved ones. 

The actor, 66, appeared in happy spirits as he headed out to dinner with family and friends on Friday, July 12 following the dismissal of his Rust case and involuntary manslaughter charge in a Santa Fe, New Mexico court the same day.

In photographs, Baldwin was seen smiling during the outing as he was joined by his brother Stephen Baldwin, sister Beth Keuchler and a group of friends following the results of the case as they made their way to New Mexican restaurant Casa Chimayo.

Earlier on Friday, Alec was seen bursting into tears in court as he was told his involuntary manslaughter charge in the case over the 2021 fatal on-set shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the Western movie Rust was dropped after his defense attorneys argued the prosecutors had buried evidence. Alec previously faced up to 18 months in prison if found guilty of the charge.

Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer explained her decision to dismiss the case with prejudice: “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.”

Following his tearful reaction to the dismissal verdict, Alec turned around in court to hug his wife Hilaria, 40, who was also emotional at the outcome. 

Alec was charged in January over the 2021 Rust incident, after a prop gun he was holding discharged during a scene he was rehearsing on the set of the movie, killing Hutchins and injuring director Joel Souza. The actor has insisted in interviews he did not pull the trigger of the gun or know why it contained live ammunition.

During the trial on Friday, Alec's attorney Luke Nikas asked for the case against his client to be dropped as he alleged that prosecutors held onto evidence that could have assisted in explaining how live ammunition was brought on to the set of Rust in 2021.

A man named Troy Teske, a friend of Thell Reed, the father of convicted Rust armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed was claimed by Alec's lawyers to have turned over ammunition he thought was connected to the case to authorities.

“We’re talking about a prosecution that didn’t preserve those bullets, that didn’t collect them at all. That didn’t turn them over,” Nikas said. “This is critical evidence in the case that was never disclosed to us … We were entitled to it. This case should be dismissed, Your Honor.”

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Corporal Alexandria Hancock of the Santa Fe Sheriff's Office later admitted that the ammunition Teske handed over was filed separately from the other Rust evidence. She also said prosecutor Kari T. Morrissey was involved in talks to file them separately.

Morrissey then testified under oath, explaining that she didn’t think the ammunition was considered Rust evidence. Judge Sommer issued her ruling shortly after Morrissey's testimony.

Alec's outing with his family following the dismissal of the case comes after Stephen, 58, Keuchler, 69, and Hilaria supported the actor in court earlier in the week, also appearing at the First Judicial District Court on Wednesday, July 10.