Alec Baldwin thanks supporters in first public comments after early end to trial

SANTA FE, NM — SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Alec Baldwin made his first public comments Saturday to thank his supporters after the shockingly early end of his involuntary manslaughter trial.

“There are too many people who have supported me to just thank them now,” Baldwin said in a short Instagram post who accompanied a photo of him sitting in a courtroom in Santa Fe, New Mexico. “To all of you, you will never know how much I appreciate your kindness to my family.”

The actor cried a day earlier when Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer dismissed the case three days into the trial, saying he could not be re-indicted for the murder of camerawoman Halyna Hutchins. Neither he nor his attorneys spoke to reporters as he left the courthouse.

The evidence that sank the case was ammunition brought to the Santa Fe County sheriff’s office in March by a man who said it could be related to Hutchins’ killing. Prosecutors said they considered the ammunition unrelated and inconsequential, while Baldwin’s attorneys argued they had “buried” it and filed a motion to dismiss the case.

The judge said the withholding of evidence compromised the “fundamental fairness” of the trial of Baldwin, 66. If he had been found guilty, he could have been jailed for up to 18 months.

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Dalton reported from Los Angeles.

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For more coverage of the involuntary manslaughter trial of Alec Baldwin, visit: https://apnews.com/hub/alec-baldwin