Alec Baldwin arrives in court as jury selection begins in Rust shooting trial | Rust film set shooting
Alec Baldwin’s involuntary manslaughter trial in the 2021 death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the Rust film set began on Tuesday, with jury selection under way at a New Mexico courthouse.
The long-awaited trial in Santa Fe is starting nearly three years after the death on a film set sent shockwaves across the entertainment industry. On 21 October 2021, Baldwin was rehearsing for the western on set at the Bonanza Creek Ranch, a popular location for Hollywood, when he pointed a prop firearm at Hutchins.
Baldwin, who faces up to 18 months in prison, has said he did not pull the trigger, but pulled back the hammer of the gun when it malfunctioned and fired. The single bullet killed Hutchins and injured the director Joel Souza.
On Tuesday morning, Baldwin arrived at the first judicial district court in Santa Fe with his wife, Hilaria, and attorneys. Wearing a dark grey suit and carrying a Barnes and Noble bag, the 66-year-old was soft-spoken as he made his way through a mass of press and into the building where he went through security and headed toward the courtroom.
The courthouse was buzzing with activity as dozens of cameras and reporters from every major US network and outlets across the world staged themselves outside the building and in a courtroom to cover the proceedings.
Jury selection was scheduled to start early on Tuesday morning but was delayed for several hours before beginning just after 11.30am local time. The prosecution and defense were slated to interview from a pool of 70 potential jurors on Tuesday and said they expected to seat a jury by the end of the day.
The Prosecutor Kari Morrissey questioned potential jurors about whether they had formed an opinion in the case based on any media coverage, as well as about life experiences that might prevent them from being fair. Only three of the 70 potential jurors said they had not seen or heard anything about the case.
“Our job – the attorneys for both sides – is to make sure we get a fair and impartial jury,” Morrissey said before beginning her questioning. “We want to get jurors who can be fair to the state. We also want to get jurors who can be fair to Mr Baldwin.”
Two potential jurors expressed that they did not feel they could be fair and were excused and nearly 20 asked to be dismissed because serving would pose a hardship.
The 66-year-old actor and co-producer of the movie was unsuccessful in his latest request to get the charges dismissed on grounds that prosecutors had allowed potentially “exculpatory evidence” to be destroyed. A judge last month ruled that Baldwin’s legal team had failed to prove state prosecutors had acted in bad faith, and allowed the controversial case to proceed.
This is the second criminal trial stemming from the tragedy, a rare fatal shooting on a film set. Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, Rust’s chief weapons handler, was sentenced to 18 months in prison in April after she was convicted of involuntary manslaughter. Prosecutors alleged in her trial that she had put dummy rounds and at least one live round into the weapon, and that she had neglected to follow critical safety procedures.
Baldwin’s legal team is expected to cast blame on Gutierrez-Reed and continue to argue that he did not actually pull the trigger. The trial is moving forward after prosecutors had initially dismissed involuntary manslaughter charges against Baldwin last year when they said they needed more time to review evidence.
He was charged a second time after prosecutors said forensic testing on the gun revealed Baldwin had pulled the trigger. Baldwin’s team has cast doubt on the examination of the gun commissioned by prosecutors. The FBI conducted initial tests on the gun to see if it could have accidentally discharged, but the process involved striking and damaging the weapon. A later forensic analysis required replacing parts that had been damaged.
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Baldwin’s lawyers recently sought to have the case thrown out over the handling of the gun during the investigation, but the judge sided with prosecutors.
Legal experts have said that Baldwin’s guilt may be harder to prove after Gutierrez-Reed was deemed responsible in the last trial. Prosecutors have also sought to draw attention to Baldwin’s role as a producer, and Baldwin previously faced scrutiny for his comments to a detective acknowledging how films try to cut costs and keep on a tight schedule.
But a judge ruled Monday that Baldwin’s producer position was not relevant to the trial, siding with defense lawyers and saying evidence related to his secondary role on the film would not be allowed.
After Hutchins’ death, it was reported that there had been two accidental firings of blank rounds on set before she was killed, and that some crew members had resigned the day before partly due to worries about safety.
At jury selection for Gutierrez-Reed’s trial, prosecutors raised concerns about the challenges of seating a jury when so many potential candidates had been exposed to media coverage of the case.
Baldwin has a right to testify at the trial, but it is unclear if he will.
Last month, the actor and his wife announced the launch of a new TLC reality show chronicling their family.
