True but quite a few of the people involved in this knew better

Guess if you are rich and famous you can get away with murder or perhaps manslaughter

Thankfully that was one smart judge!!!!!

George Zimmerman was neither rich or famous and actually did murder someone ON PURPOSE

Another killer will walk. Predictably this judge could not dismiss the case with prejudice fast enough.

"SANTA FE — The criminal case against actor Alec Baldwin imploded in spectacular fashion Friday when a judge threw out the involuntary manslaughter charge after finding that prosecutors had withheld evidence.

District Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer ruled on the third day of testimony that "dismissal with prejudice is warranted" because prosecutors failed to turn over live ammunition turned over in March to the Santa Fe Sheriff's Office. The case will not be refiled.

Baldwin, his attorneys and family members walked out of the Santa Fe District Courthouse without commenting to the throngs of reporters and camera crews asking for his response to the dismissal.


The Baldwin trial took a wild turn Friday morning when defense attorneys demanded that prosecutors produce ammunition that a "good Samaritan" turned over in March to the Santa Fe Sheriff's Office.

His attorneys also asked state District Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer to dismiss the case against Baldwin, alleging that prosecutors and investigators "hid" critical evidence from the defense.

The dramatic turn of events brought the trial to a crashing halt as Marlowe Sommer considers the defense motion to dismiss the case. The judge dismissed the jury about 10:15 a.m. and told them to return Monday. At 4:30 p.m. she made the jury's dismissal permanent.

"Dismissal with prejudice is a very extreme thing," Marlowe Sommer said before granting it.

"The defendant must show that the prosecution suppressed evidence, the evidence was favorable to the accused and the evidence was material to the defense," the judge said.

Marlowe Sommer found that Baldwin's legal team met all three prongs of a Brady violation, which allows a judge to dismiss all charges against defendant.

The surprise ending to the high-profile trial may have exceeded anything a Hollywood scriptwriter could have written. It included the lead special prosecutor Kari Morrissey testifying in the witness stand while being cross examined by a defense attorney.

The hour-long hearing involved an unusual scene in which the judge donned blue latex gloves and came down from her bench to examine about a dozen live rounds as attorneys and a crime scene investigator gathered around."

Judge tosses criminal charge against Baldwin | News | abqjournal.com

We seem to have a lot of really smart judges these days.

Well, at least on the US Supreme Court we do have some.

Except he didn't... Shooting someone who is on top of you, banging your head into the sidewalk is in no way murder... By ANY legal definition...

Case dismissed with prejudice. Can't be retried.

A fair result given the mishandling and lying about the evidence.

Um….. what?!?! Martin was visiting relatives at the time of the shooting.Zimmerman became suspicious of Martin and called police; Zimmerman attacked Martin and then shot him with a pistol he was licensed to carry.

In a widely reported trial, Zimmerman was charged with second-degree murder for Martin's death, but acquitted by the jury after claiming self-defense, although Martin had no weapon.

I guess a 17 year old with skittles would seem very dangerous to an unstable person carrying a gun.

Oh please….. the prosecutors hid evidence that would’ve helped the Baldwin case and why is it when things don’t go your way, you people cry foul. Would the judge have been okay if she’d done the wrong thing just because Alec made fun of your King? Haha

Zimmerman has a history of violence, several times involving a firearm in his possession. He's been charged with assault and threatening multiple times over the years and has been set free every single time so far. Zimmerman is trash.

I didn't watch any of it, but the consensus among people on a gun forum I frequent was the prosecution was a total mess. No matter what any of us thought the outcome should be, they all agreed it would be dismissed or found innocent because the prosecution was horrible.

The skittles and Arizona drink were for him to make a drug with codein, which he had literally posted about making since 2011. He was smashing Zimmerman's head against the ground when he was shot. It was a self defense shooting.

None of that means I don't think Zim is a scumbag. His actions since that shooting have proved it multiple times. But Martin was a druggy thug and no attempts by the media to portray him otherwise change that fact. The media even altered pictures of Martin to make him look like a nice innocent kid, when in fact his posted pics show otherwise.