Washington, 13 July 2024 (dpa/MIA) - The criminal case against US actor Alec Baldwin over the fatal shooting of a cinematographer at the set of "Rust" has been dismissed, a New Mexico judge said in a surprise announcement on Friday.

Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer granted a request by Baldwin's lawyers to dismiss the proceedings after the Hollywood star's defence team had accused the prosecution in Santa Fe of misconduct.

Baldwin, who burst into tears when the decision was announced, left the courtroom as a free man briefly afterwards.

The trial, which began on Tuesday, centred on the question of whether the fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of "Rust" in 2021 had been the result of negligence.

While filming the Western, Baldwin had been asked by the director to draw a revolver during rehearsal, but instead of harmless blanks, live ammunition went off, fatally injuring Hutchins.

Baldwin, 66, could have been sentenced to up to 18 months in prison had he been found guilty.

The actor's defence team argued that the prosecution had withheld key evidence from them - a number of bullets which surfaced a few months ago and were presented in an envelope to the judge in court on Friday.

According to Baldwin's lawyers, the bullets should have been included in ballistic investigations earlier in the trial, but the prosecution had failed to make them available, the New York Times reported.

Photo: MIA archive