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Opening statements in the manslaughter trial began Wednesday. Actor Alec BaldwinIt’s been almost three years since I became a director of photography. Halina Hutchins He was shot and killed on the set of the western movie “Lust” in New Mexico.
Prosecutor Erlinda Johnson focused on Baldwin’s reckless behavior at the scene, saying he violated “a basic rule of firearms safety” by pointing a gun at someone and pulling the trigger, and said evidence would show the weapon was in “perfect condition” and not malfunctioning.
“When someone role-plays with a real gun in a real workplace and that role-play violates basic rules of firearms safety, it puts people’s lives at risk and someone could get killed,” she told the jury. “The evidence will show that the person who played role-play with a real gun and violated basic rules of firearms safety was the defendant, Alexander Baldwin.”
In contrast, the defense charged that the film’s firearms officer and first assistant director, who were jointly responsible for firearms safety on set, loaded a prop gun with live ammunition and failed to secure it before it reached Baldwin.
“This is an unspeakable tragedy, but Alec Baldwin committed no crime. He was an actor, he was performing, he was playing the role of Harlan Rust. An actor playing a role is capable of committing deadly acts,” attorney Alex Spiro said in a statement. “These ‘ground rules’ are not ground rules on a movie set.”
Baldwin has pleaded not guilty to a felony charge of manslaughter in connection with the death of Hutchins, 42. If convicted, he could face up to 18 months in prison.
This trial, Deadly shooting The incident occurred on October 21, 2021, while cast and crew were rehearsing the Western film “Lust” at a ranch in New Mexico. Baldwin was practicing “cross-draws” (pulling a gun from a holster on the opposite hand from the one he is drawing the gun from) with a prop gun when a live round discharged, killing Hutchins and injuring director Joel Souza.
Twelve jurors and four alternate jurors were selected Tuesday for the trial in Santa Fe, which is expected to last about two weeks.
This is the third criminal case linked to an on-set shooting. In March, “Lust” weapons maker Hannah Gutierrez Reed was arrested. was convicted of manslaughter He was sentenced to 18 months in prison. Assistant Director Dave Halls agreed to plead not guilty to negligent use of a deadly weapon. District Attorney “The jury is out to get the money,” said a judge in New Mexico’s First Judicial District. Conditions of the deal included six months of probation. Prosecutors said he granted a suspended sentence.
Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office/AFP/Getty Images
Alec Baldwin has pleaded not guilty to manslaughter in the October 2021 on-set shooting.
The shooting occurred as Baldwin and several members of the film crew had gathered at a church on his New Mexico ranch to rehearse a scene.
What did Gutierrez Reed load into his prop six-shot revolver? She said she believed it was a “dummy” bullet.According to investigators and her defense attorney, the term refers to ammunition that does not contain explosive material but appears to be real. After a lunch break, Halls grabbed a prop gun from a cart outside the church and “Cold Gun” He signaled that it was safe and handed the gun over to Baldwin.
Baldwin then practiced the “cross-draw” move, aiming the gun at the camera operated by Hutchins, Souza, and the cameraman, when suddenly, a loud noise was heard.
Hutchins, who was shot in the torso, was taken by helicopter to a hospital where he was later pronounced dead, while Souza, who was shot in the shoulder, was treated at a hospital where a live bullet was removed from his back.
In their opening statements, prosecutors said Baldwin failed to follow proper safety protocols at the shooting site even before the fatal shooting.
Johnson claims he didn’t check the safety when he fired the gun. He also claims he pointed the gun at an object, cocked it when he shouldn’t have, and had his finger on the trigger when he shouldn’t have. Johnson claims a forensic examination of the gun showed it was not malfunctioning.
“After the shooting, Baldwin began to claim he didn’t pull the trigger,” she said. “If you look at the evidence, folks, you’ll see that’s not possible.”
“He showed reckless disregard for Ms. Hutchins’ safety, pointed a gun at another human being, cocked the gun and pulled the trigger,” she said.
Baldwin is He previously told CNN He claimed he did not pull the trigger during the fatal shooting but did cock the gun.
“I never picked up a gun, pointed it at somebody and fired a gun,” Baldwin said in a 2022 interview.
During the defense’s opening statement, Spiro said the prosecutors’ attempt to prove Baldwin pulled the trigger doesn’t mean he’s guilty of murder. The key to the fatal shooting was that someone else loaded the prop gun with live ammunition and deemed it safe before it reached Baldwin.
Spiro said the prop gun was then destroyed during unnecessary inspection by prosecutors and investigators, tampering with evidence in the case.
Spiro also played a video of the incident in question, which shows Baldwin pulling out his gun in close-up on camera, and constantly discussing with people off-camera how to position himself and how to “pull out” his gun.
“There’s no danger. They just wanted him to do it again,” Spiro said.
After opening statements, the first witness was Nicholas LeFleur, a former deputy with the Santa Fe Sheriff’s Department who rushed to the scene of “Last” after the shooting.
“Yes, I had a gun,” Baldwin said as LeFleur approached, according to body camera footage played in court.
According to the video, officers summon Baldwin and tell him not to speak to anyone else because they might be witnesses, but the video shows Baldwin and other crew members continuing to discuss what happened during the shooting.
On cross-examination, LeFleur acknowledged that he did not repeat the command or tell Baldwin to stay away from others.
Fred Haise/Getty Images
Halina Hutchins was killed in a shooting at the shooting scene.
The case has been marked by twists and turns over the years, including a change in prosecutors, stalled prosecutions due to questions about the integrity of the evidence and a flurry of motions by Baldwin’s defense team to have the charges dismissed.
As Baldwin’s trial nears, the judge has The defense filed a motion to dismiss the case.
Baldwin’s defense team has accused the prosecution of misconduct during the grand jury proceedings and argued that the shooting of Hutchins was an accident and that Baldwin is not criminally responsible. They have also argued that the gun used in the shooting was destroyed during forensic testing by the FBI, and that the defense cannot reconstruct the test.
Baldwin’s prosecution was initially led by New Mexico’s First Judicial District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwis, a Democrat, but she later resigned and handed the task over to a special prosecutor.
Special prosecutor Andrea Reeve, a Republican state representative, said Baldwin’s defense team Disqualify herThe reason given was constitutional concerns about lawmakers working for prosecutors.
The controversy surrounding Reeve intensified following the New York Times report. Get communication In correspondence between Reeve and Carmack-Altwies after his hiring, the Republican joked that joining the team prosecuting Baldwin might help his own campaign. Reeve did not respond to a request for comment from The New York Times.
April 2023, Special Prosecutor The manslaughter charge against Baldwin was dismissed.He cited “new facts” about the incident. The prosecutor “New facts have come to light,” Baldwin said. Indicted by a grand jury He was indicted in January on two counts of manslaughter.
Prosecutors initially tried to argue that Baldwin’s role as producer made him potentially responsible for a culture of unsafe practices in the film industry. set. But in a major victory for the defense, Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer Domination On Monday, it announced that Baldwin’s role as a producer would not be considered in the trial.
CNN’s Jack Hanna, Elizabeth Wagmeister, Sheri Mossberg and Eric Levenson contributed to this report.
