SANTA FE, N.M. – It was a highly emotional day inside the Santa Fe County courthouse for Alec Baldwin. 

Just three days into his trial, Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer granted his team’s motion to dismiss the case with prejudice. That means there’s effectively no path forward for prosecutors to refile charges against Baldwin. 

We expected the big part of Friday would be whether convicted “Rust” armorer Hannah Gutierrez Reed would testify. Instead, we had a mini-trial within the trial, which led to the judge throwing out the case against Baldwin. 

It really comes down to the “Teske bullet.” The defense filed a motion to dismiss the case, claiming the prosecution, and investigators with the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Department, purposely hid evidence from Baldwin’s team. 

We knew this was serious, and it wasn’t going to be a quick issue, when the judge made a surprising decision with the jury Friday morning. 

“Thanks for coming in, I’m going to recess you for the day. I’m sorry, trials are fluid, it’s not something we predicted, OK?” said Judge Marlowe Sommer. 

The evidence in question is the Teske bullet that may have been connected to the “Rust” shooting. The name Troy Teske is at the center of that bullet. 

On Friday, KOB 4 learned Teske came to Santa Fe County deputies during Gutierrez Reed’s trial in February. 

Teske says he wanted to turn over live ammo he was storing for Gutierrez Reed’s stepfather, Thell Reed, which was used on a different western set before the “Rust” shooting. 

Thell Reed was also working on that other western production with Seth Kenney, the Albuquerque man who supplied dummy rounds to Gutierrez Reed for “Rust.”

On Friday, the defense tried to insinuate Kenney may have given some of the live rounds he used with Thell Reed to Gutierrez Reed, unknowingly. 

Here’s the thing, that bullet Teske gave to deputies was never included in the actual “Rust” case file. 

Special prosecutor Kari Morrissey was adamant this bullet was not important to the case. But it didn’t matter, what mattered was how they handled the evidence.

We found who made the decision on how to file this evidence. It was by Corporal Alexandria Hancock, an investigator for the Santa Fe County Sheriffs.

“When you say that, there were discussions and the decision was made by all of you to put that ammo in a separate file. Right? Is that correct? You said that? Yes ma’am. Was Ms. Morrissey part of the discussion? Yes.”

That’s when Morrissey shocked everyone and decided she needed to take the stand herself. 

From the jump, Baldwin’s attorney, Alex Spiro, started questioning her on alleged derogatory comments she made about Baldwin to witnesses. He also attacked her record in not just Baldwin’s case, but also Gutierrez Reed’s. 

The air left the room when Spiro revealed that the prosecutor who delivered the opening statement just two days ago – Erlinda Johnson – had quit the case.

Morrissey says that’s because she didn’t want the hearing to be held in public. 

Johnson disappeared after the lunch break, but she reappeared on NewsNation Tonight to explain:

“When this came to light, I think the best decision would have been for the state to dismiss the case. That’s why I resigned. I believed that case should have been dismissed, and I advocated for that over the lunch hour, and it wasn’t. And so when we came back after the lunch hour, I asked to withdraw.”

So where do we go from here? Will there be repercussions for prosecutors, for the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Department? And could this impact Gutierrez Reed?

Gutierrez Reed is spending 18 months in prison for her conviction in the death of Halyna Hutchins, but Friday’s decision could absolutely play a role in her appeal.

Here’s what Gutierrez Reed’s attorney shared with us Friday after the judge threw out Baldwin’s charges: 

“I mean, it just happened way too many times that evidence has not been turned over. There’s probably eight or nine things we’re going to be filing in our motion; interviews, a report, various things that weren’t given to us. And it’s just the state’s responsibility to do that. They have to do that.”