In a dramatic turn of events, Alec Baldwin's involuntary manslaughter trial for the fatal 2021 shooting of Rust cinematographer Halyna Hutchins was dismissed Friday over "critical evidence" that a New Mexico judge ruled had been concealed.

"The state has repeatedly made representations to defense and to the court that they were compliant with all their discovery obligations," New Mexico Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer said in her ruling from the bench just now. "Despite their repeated representations, they have continued to fail to disclose critical evidence to the defendant." 

"The state is highly culpable for its failure to provide discovery to the defendant," Sommer added in a measured tone. "Dismissal with prejudice is warranted," she concluded.

The ruling ends any hope of the state recharging Baldwin again.

Breaking down in tears at the defense table, the multi-Emmy-winning actor was in the courtroom when Sommer announced her ruling on the defense motion to dismiss based on concealed evidence that Baldwin's lawyer filed late Thursday, relating to ammunition brought to police by an ex-cop.

The decision by Sommer on Friday, at the end of an evidentiary hearing over a defense motion to dismiss over bullets dropped off to Santa Fe police in recent weeks by ex-Arizona cop Troy Teske, could also mean the release of incarcerated Rust armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed from New Mexico state prison.

With the constant chorus of local police missteps, blatant professional incompetence, DA stumbles and eccentrics that has been center stage in this matter since that terrible day almost three years ago, the dismissal of the case was simultaneously shocking and not that unexpected.