Alec Baldwin thanks supporters in first public comments after trial ends early

SANTA FE, NM — SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Alex Baldwin made his first public comments to thank his supporters on Saturday, following the stunning early end to his manslaughter trial.

“There are too many people who supported me to thank now,” Baldwin said in a brief Instagram post which 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 and said he could not be criminally charged again with the murder of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins. Neither he nor his lawyers spoke to reporters as he left the courtroom.

The evidence that sank the case was ammunition that was brought to the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office in March by a man who said it might be related to Hutchins’ murder. Prosecutors said they considered the ammunition unrelated and unimportant, while Baldwin’s lawyers claimed they “buried” it and filed a motion to dismiss the case.

The judge said the withholding of evidence undermined the “fundamental fairness” of the trial of Baldwin, 66, who could have faced 18 months in prison if convicted.

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Dalton reported from Los Angeles.

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