Jury Selection for Alec Baldwin’s Manslaughter Trial Starts Tuesday
Jury selection for Alec Baldwin’s manslaughter trial, connected to the 2021 fatal shooting of a crew member on the “Rust” movie set in Santa Fe, New Mexico, will begin on Tuesday.
The shooting happened while Baldwin was practicing a scene in a church for the Western film when a Colt .45 revolver fired a live round, killing 42-year-old cinematographer Halyna Hutchins. Baldwin, 66, who was also a producer on the film, was charged with involuntary manslaughter earlier this year after prosecutors had dropped the charge before.
He has pleaded not guilty. Jury selection is expected to take one day, and the trial will go until July 19.
Baldwin says he did not pull the trigger. However, an FBI report found that the gun could not have fired without the trigger being pulled.
Prosecutors wanted to argue that Baldwin was responsible for unsafe conditions on the set as a producer. However, Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer decided against this during a hearing on Monday. Baldwin’s lawyer, Luke Nikas, said that blaming Baldwin for the shooting because he was a producer was more harmful than helpful and should not be allowed.
Prosecutor Erlinda Ocampo Johnson said it was important to show the jury that Baldwin, as a producer, knew about safety rules and had the power to enforce them on set.
Judge Marlowe Sommer said that this information would confuse the jury and was not fair.
The judge allowed footage of Baldwin handling the gun on the “Rust” set to be shown as evidence but did not allow videos of him yelling or cursing at the crew. Baldwin’s lawyers tried to get the charges dismissed several times, but all requests were denied.
Judge Marlowe Sommer also denied a request to give immunity to the film’s armorer, Hannah Gutierrez, to make her testify during Baldwin’s trial. Gutierrez, 27, was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter for the shooting and sentenced to 18 months in prison. She is appealing the conviction. Prosecutors wanted to ensure her testimony could not be used against her in her appeal. Gutierrez used her Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination during a pretrial interview in May.
Judge Marlowe Sommer noted that Gutierrez would not testify and that nothing she might say could not be said by someone else.
Gutierrez may still testify without immunity.
The judge also allowed the testimony of a “Rust” crew member who said he saw Baldwin pull the trigger. Other possible witnesses include David Halls, the film’s safety coordinator, who got six months unsupervised probation, and “Rust” director Joel Souza, who was also injured by the live bullet.
Both testified during Gutierrez’s trial.
During Gutierrez’s trial, footage of Baldwin from the “Rust” filming was shown, including a scene where Baldwin fired a gun after “cut” was called. Prosecutor Kari Morrissey said Baldwin’s actions and lack of gun safety on that day would be something he would have to answer for, but not during that trial.