Alec Baldwin in tears as Rust trial collapses and he walks free due to 'hidden evidence'

Alec Baldwin exited court a free man as his trial, in which he was facing involuntary manslaughter charges, was sensationally dismissed with prejudice.

The actor, 66, had been in a Santa Fe courtroom all week over his role in the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, who was tragically killed on set of western movie, Rust.

Baldwin, who produced the feature and was starring as the lead, was holding the gun, which fired the bullets, which tragically killed Hutchins.

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The film's armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed is currently serving an 18-month sentence at the Western New Mexico Correctional Facility after she was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter for her role in Hutchins' death.

Gutierrez-Reed had loaded the gun, which killed Hutchins, with live bullets.

Baldwin's laywers claimed bullets being used by the prosecution as evidence were "concealed and buried" in a different case file.

Speaking in the courtroom, defense attorney Luke Nikas told the judge: "If this evidence wasn't as important as we say it is, they would have turned it over.

"The fact that they concealed it, the fact that they put it in a separate document number, didn't disclose a supplemental report, didn't disclose the bullets, didn't bring them to the April 6th evidentiary viewing. If it was that irrelevant, didn't have evidentiary value, it would have been there."

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Gutierrez-Reed had loaded the gun, which killed Hutchins, with live bullets.

It was the bullets which saw Baldwin's case dismissed after the defense pointed out that, despite their request, they were not shown all of the evidence ahead of the trial.

They said that key bullets were logged under a completely separate evidentiary case number. The prosecution argued that the bullets in question were inconsequential, however, Baldwin's defense lawyers insisted this wasn't their call to make.