MIAMI.- He judgment of the actor Alec Baldwin for involuntary manslaughter after a fatal shooting on the set of the filming of Rustmove forward with opening arguments in a New Mexico court on Wednesday.
The Hollywood star was pointing a revolver at cinematographer Halyna Hutchins during rehearsal of a scene for the western film, when the gun discharged a bullet that killed her and wounded the director.
Baldwin, 66, said he didn’t know the gun was loaded and didn’t pull the trigger.
Special prosecutor Kari Morrissey has already ensured that the production’s gunsmith, Hannah Gutierrez, who was responsible for handling firearms on the set, was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter in the case and sentenced to 18 months in prison in the southwestern state.
Morrissey is now going for the 3-year-old actor0 Rockwho could face the same punishment if found guilty.
Under media scrutiny, the prosecutor will argue that Baldwin broke basic safety rules for handling weapons on a set, and will try to characterize him as a powerful movie star who acted uncontrollably on the set.
The actor was at the Santa Fe court on Tuesday for the selection of the jury, which was made up of eleven women and five men (including alternates), and which now has the task of deciding whether he is guilty of the tragedy.
One of his attorneys, Alex Spiro, spent much of the selection process Tuesday reminding potential jurors that their prior feelings or opinions about Baldwin’s career cannot influence their analysis of the case or their verdict.
Baldwin, who has dozens of film and television credits over a career spanning more than four decades, has made a strong foray into comedy in recent years, including his repeated impersonation of former President Donald Trump on the show Saturday Night Livewhich won him both affection and disaffection in the polarized American public opinion.
Spiro and his team will seek to portray Baldwin as a victim, who did not know the gun was loaded and did not pull the trigger, and who as an actor was not responsible for checking the condition of the weapons used in filming.
The judge ruled out in a preliminary hearing the use of evidence that implicates Baldwin in his additional role as executive producer of Rust.
Halyna Hutchins
Hutchins, a rising star according to industry insiders, was 42 when she died. The cinematographer was born in Ukraine and grew up on a Soviet military base in the Arctic Circle.
She was married and had a son.
She was fatally wounded during a rehearsal for Rust in a small chapel that is part of the Bonanza Creek Ranch, about 30 kilometers from Santa Fe, on a sunny afternoon in October 2021.
Baldwin was rehearsing a scene in which his character, an outlaw who, cornered in a church by two officers, draws his Colt, when tragedy knocked at the door.
The actor claims he was told the gun was cold, which in film slang means out of ammunition and safe to use.
Live ammunition is banned on film sets.
Witnesses at the trial
After opening arguments Wednesday, the jury will hear from witnesses, among whom is expected to be the director of RustJoel Souza, who was wounded by the same bullet that killed Hutchins.
The list of potential witnesses includes David Halls, the cowboy film’s first assistant director who pleaded guilty after accepting a deal that spared him prison time, and prop firearms supplier Seth Kenney.
It is not known whether Baldwin will take the stand in his own defense.
The trial is scheduled to last ten days, after which the jury will begin its deliberations.
The tragedy halted the filming of Rustbut the film was completed last year in Montana with Hutchins’ widower as producer.
FUENTE: AFP
