A juror from Alec Baldwin’s involuntary manslaughter trial slammed the proceedings as “ridiculous” — and said it was clear the prosecutors just wanted to blame someone for the “Rust” set shooting that killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.
The case against Baldwin, 66, abruptly ended on July 12 when the judge dismissed the charges due to indications that the prosecution withheld crucial evidence from his defense team.
But even before the judge’s bombshell move, juror Martina Marquez felt like the criminal rigmarole was “pointless,” she told People.
Alec Baldwin, 66, in New Mexico court earlier this month before his involuntary manslaughter chargers were tossed out. Getty Images“It didn’t need to go this far,” she said.
Though Marquez, 36, was “open-minded to listening to the facts of the case,” she quickly surmised that the “case seemed to be mishandled from the get-go.”
Hutchins, 42, was killed when a prop gun Baldwin was handling discharged a live round on the set of “Rust” on Oct. 21, 2021.
Alec Baldwin was holding a prop gun when it discharged a live round on the set of his movie “Rust” in October 2021. Santa Fe County SheriffAfter initially dodging his first indictment, the “30 Rock” star was hit with one charge of involuntary manslaughter in January.
During the trial, prosecutors accused the actor of flouting gun safety regulations and behaving recklessly with the prop firearms.
As the jury looked at the evidence, however, Marquez became more convinced that the shooting was “an unfortunate accident.”
Halyna Hutchins, 42, was shot and killed on the set of “Rust.” Getty Images for AMC Networks“Just starting from the lapel cam videos, it didn’t make sense how they could point fingers directly towards him as a whole,” the oncology scheduler told People, noting that there were dozens of people on the set in the aftermath of the incident.
Body camera footage from Timoteo Benavidez, a lieutenant with the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office, showed the cop searching for the prop gun, which was then handed to him by armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, Marquez explained.
“It didn’t make sense,” she continued. “We all watch TV and we watch movies. You’re not supposed to really touch evidence and move it from place to place. So that made me iffy about the situation because it could have been in so many people’s hands by the time the lieutenant actually confiscated it.”
In light of the evidence, Marquez felt the indictment against Baldwin was “a little harsh,” and suggested that he was targeted for being a celebrity.
“I feel like they needed to pin [the death] on somebody,” she said of the prosecutors.
Prosecutor Erlinda Ocampo Johnson accused Alec Baldwin of being reckless with the prop gun. APMarquez added that she felt Gutierrez-Reed — who was convicted of involuntary manslaughter in March and is serving 18 months in prison — was “liable for what happened” to Hutchins.
Although the jurors were banned from discussing the case among themselves, it seemed like they “were all on the same page” about Baldwin’s involvement before the case was dismissed, she told the magazine.
Baldwin broke down in sobs when Judge Mary Marlow Sommer tossed the charges after ruling that the fairness of the proceedings had been compromised.
The “Blue Jasmine” star — who is currently filming a TLC reality show with his wife, Hilaria, and seven young kids — thanked his supporters for their “kindness.”
A spokesperson for Hutchins’ widower, Matthew Hutchins, said the grieving family “respects” the judge’s decision, but vowed to hold Baldwin “accountable” for the on-set tragedy.
Hutchins’ parents and sister — who followed the trial from their home in Ukraine — called the dropped charges a “devastating blow.”
“It does not change the fact that Alec Baldwin killed Halyna Hutchins on the set of ‘Rust.’ It does not change the fact that he fired a loaded gun while pointing it at a human being,” attorney Gloria Allred said on her loved ones’ behalf.






