‘Rust’ trial live updates: Alec Baldwin defense says if he pulled the trigger or not ‘doesn’t make him guilty’

Alec Baldwin’s manslaughter trial is scheduled to last nine days in New Mexico’s First Judicial District Court, about 20 miles northeast of the filming site of “Lust” and the scene of the shooting of Halina Hutchins.

Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer has maintained control over the lawyers and insisted they stay on schedule.

Jurors were selected Tuesday and opening statements took place Wednesday.

The state’s first four witnesses testified Wednesday, but cross-examination of crime scene technician Marissa Poppel lasted almost all day Thursday.

The expected end date is the following Friday.

But once a jury takes on a case, they can deliberate for as long as they need to.

Attorney Alex Spiro questioned crime scene technician Marissa Poppel about why it took a week to search the prop truck on set for the final scene.

The truck was stocked with blank and imitation ammunition, and while live ammunition was found at the shooting scene, none was found in the truck.

“There’s live bullets all over the set, you know? There were little bits everywhere and it felt like there wasn’t a lot of consistency in where they were falling,” Spiro said.

“And the ammunition was originally loaded onto a truck. Then a week later it goes to a prop truck with all the ammunition in it. There’s not a single live round in there? Why did the police wait a week to go to the prop truck?”

“A search warrant had to be prepared,” Poppel responded.

She added: “We don’t know exactly why there was a time lag.”

Poppel claimed that a search warrant for the church where the shooting took place was prepared and filed on the day of the shooting. Poppel clarified that the search warrant was served the following day.

Pieces of paper recovered from the scene of the church shooting are on display.

The paper appears to have instructions written on it, which read: “Please gently pull the trigger on the Last Colt.”

Poppel said on the witness stand that he thought it was important because the paper mentioned firearms, so he took a photo.

Marissa Poppel testified in court that live ammunition was found mixed with imitation bullets in a prop cart on the set of the film “Lust.”

In photos shown in court, the live cartridges appear to have a silver dot on the bottom rather than a dull orange color.

“After evaluating the ammunition and looking at the similarities between the Starline Nickel ammunition and the Starline Nickel dummies, is it your theory that the two could have easily been intermixed?” attorney Alex Spiro asked.

“Yes,” she answered.

“So, someone could have made a mistake?” he asked. She replied, “Yes.”

Spiro also questioned Poppel about damages caused by the state’s forensic analysis of the gun, which the team had previously sought to have the case dismissed because the gun couldn’t be tested.

“In terms of the firearm, as I said yesterday, I believe that ultimately that firearm was destroyed in the testing there,” Spiro said.

“It wasn’t destroyed, it was broken,” Poppel replied.

She later agreed that the gun could likely be repaired with replacement parts, but could not be restored to the condition it was in on the day of the shooting.

Alec Baldwin’s manslaughter trial has resumed for the second day.

The prosecution’s fourth witness, crime scene technician Marissa Poppel, returned to the stand.

She is being cross-examined by the defense.

Hannah Gutierrez Reed, an arms dealer on the set of “Lust,” who was convicted, is scheduled to testify Friday morning.

Gutierrez-Reed is scheduled to be transported from jail to the courthouse on Friday morning, attorney Jason Bowles confirmed to Court TV when court resumed on Thursday.

A crowd gathered outside the Santa Fe courthouse this week, waiting for the start of Alec Baldwin’s high-profile trial.

Many were locals, but a few had driven in from out of town to see the spectacle.

Janelle Rogers, a former “Better Call Saul” star who lives in Albuquerque, and her friends held signs that read, “Justice for Halina” on one side and “Safety on Set is a Must! No Excuses!!” on the other.

She criticised the film industry, saying there was “no safety on set.”

“No matter who you are or where you are, safety is essential on the job site,” Rogers said. New York Post.

“Halina Hutchins should not have died.”

“I believe her death is the fault of many people. There are multiple people involved. Just because you’re an actor doesn’t make you exempt from liability, just because you’re not a producer,” Rogers said, adding that he believes his wife’s attendance at the trial is a publicity stunt to promote their new reality show.

A Rio Rancher woman drove an hour from her home to attend the trial. She was watching the trial of arms dealer Hannah Gutierrez Reed, who was convicted of manslaughter in March and sentenced to 18 months in prison.

“I’ve been following the Gutierrez case,” Jarrell said.[I’m] I was very excited that it was being held in my home state. [I] I drove about an hour to get here.”

She is advocating for stricter gun safety laws and justice for Hutchins.