Alec Baldwin Gave the Performance of a Lifetime as His Case Was Thrown Out of Court

Eddie Moore. Shutterstock Images.

And so it would seem the homicide trial of Alec Baldwin is over as soon as it begun:

NBC News - In a scene befitting a Hollywood legal thriller, Alec Baldwin’s involuntary manslaughter trial came to an abrupt and stunning end Friday as a judge threw out the case with prejudice, capping a legal saga that shadowed the 66-year-old actor’s career and raised questions about the future of gunplay on movie sets. …

[O]n the second day of the trial. Alex Spiro, Baldwin’s lead attorney, asked Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office crime scene technician Marissa Poppell whether a “good Samaritan” had come to authorities with ammunition earlier this year.

Poppell confirmed under oath that the sheriff’s office was given Colt .45 rounds by Troy Teske, a former police officer and friend of Thell Reed, the stepfather of “Rust” armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed. In fact, according to that testimony, Teske dropped off the rounds on the same day Gutierrez-Reed was convicted of involuntary manslaughter in [Halyna] Hutchins’ death and sentenced to 18 months behind bars. (She is appealing.)

Spiro and Baldwin’s other attorneys pounced on this revelation, arguing that prosecutors had concealed evidence of ammunition that may have been linked to the fatal shooting. The defense lawyers asked the judge to dismiss the case, arguing in part that they should have had the ability to determine for themselves whether the ammunition brought in by Teske was important.

Whether you think it's outrageous that an actor, on camera and in front of dozens of witnesses, can pull the trigger on a gun resulting in someone's death and face no consequences, or if you think Baldwin was the victim of someone else's negligence and never should've been blamed, or even if you believe as Executive Producer of Rust, he's ultimately responsible, you have to accept one thing as fact. 

This is justice. 

Maybe not in the greater, moral sense. That's a value judgment that will differ from person to person, depending on your opinion of who's to blame for Halyna Hutchins' death. But in a strictly legal sense, this is justice. We simply can't have prosecutions withholding evidence. Full stop. If they do, that's putting their thumbs on the scale of justice. And if you believe it's OK if if means bringing truly evil people to justice, then you're not only misguided; you're being flat-out unAmerican. And inviting them to do the same thing to you. 

But what we're here for is not a lecture on jurisprudence. We are here to celebrate one of the great actors of his generation. And for his performance in this drama, which was the best of his storied career. This was Baldwin at his best. 

From his theatrical coffee run in the middle of opening arguments, which was straight out of Shakespeare's The Winter's Tale, "Exit, pursued by a bear":

To the broad, physical comedy of him reacting to be called "a cocksucker":

To, in the end, the heartbreaking pathos of the dismissal itself:

And the coup de grace, the romantic post-credit scene between him and his Spanish-accented wife from Massachusetts:

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… which perfectly sets up their Reality show on TLC. That production will now become Must-See TV as we get the behind-the-scenes of this epic production. 

Assuming Baldwin is into any form of method acting, it's easy to imagine those tears came from the real pain he's feeling that this is over. Sure, the ending of the trial is satisfying. But coming so soon after it began, this is costing a great thespian the chance to perform on the biggest stage of his career. It's like being on Broadway and having the production shut down after just three shows. There are so many performances still left to give. So many changes to demonstrate his range as an actor that will never been seen. So many opportunities to move an audience to laughter and tears that will not come to fruition. Instead, those of us who witnessed his brief, but powerful role in this saga will have to live with these memories, as the curtain comes down on this trial. And the courtroom in New Mexico goes dark. 

At least Defendant Alec Baldwin is a better actor than Jack Donaghy Alec Baldwin. And for that we can all be eternally grateful:

It's just a damned shame this thing didn't drag out longer. If the prosecution didn't fuck it up, it could've been the big summer blockbuster.