Jurors selected in Rust shooting trial

Alec Baldwin has been selected for the jury to hear his trial in connection with a fatal shooting on the set of a movie set in New Mexico.

Baldwin, 66, faces a manslaughter charge in the October 2021 death of photographer Halyna Hutchins, which he denies.

The 42-year-old was killed after a gun used by Baldwin went off while rehearsing a scene for the film Rust. A bullet from the gun struck the cameraman and wounded director Joel Souza.

On Tuesday, prosecutors and Mr. Baldwin’s lawyers selected the 12 jurors and four alternates who will decide the case after questioning them on everything from their political affiliations to their knowledge of the case.

Opening statements are set to begin Wednesday morning in a Santa Fe, New Mexico, courtroom.

Baldwin, best known for his roles as Jack Donaghy on the NBC sitcom 30 Rock and Donald Trump on the sketch show Saturday Night Live, is married to his wife, Hilaria Hilaria and other family members also appeared in court. He has pleaded not guilty to the felony charge.

he insisted that he Didn’t pull the trigger, and stated that when he cocked the hammer of the revolver, the gun went off. His defense team argued that other crew members had a responsibility to keep their guns safe.

But prosecutors called that claim “ridiculous,” claiming the actor failed to disclose the information during his first interview after the shooting and arguing he had a duty to follow basic gun safety.

In October 2021, Mr. Baldwin was rehearsing on the set of a Western. Near Santa Fe, New Mexico. He was practicing reaching across his body to draw a gun, and the director asked him to point the gun at the camera in an upcoming scene.

Mr. Baldwin, who has an acting career spanning 40 years, stars in the film and is also a co-producer. The 13-year-old grandson of the gangster he played was found guilty of manslaughter.

When he pointed the revolver during rehearsal, it went off. A bullet from the weapon struck Ms. Hutchins in the chest and director Joel Souza in the shoulder.

Ms Hutchins was flown to hospital by helicopter but died from her injuries. Mr. Suza was taken away by ambulance from the scene at Bonanzaxi Ranch.

Court documents show that Baldwin and others on the set did not know the gun was loaded or that it contained live ammunition.

It was later discovered that the film’s armorer, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, had brought a box of live ammunition to the set from her home in California. Prosecutors said the live rounds slowly spread throughout the site over 12 days.

Gutierrez-Reed, who loaded Mr Baldwin’s gun before the shooting, was charged and found guilty of manslaughter in Ms Hutchins’ death. she Sentenced to 18 months in prison – Maximum sentence.

Judge Mary Sommers, who is presiding over the case, said Gutierrez-Reed’s mistake turned “a safety weapon into a deadly weapon” that killed Ms Hutchins.

Assistant director and safety coordinator David Halls also pleaded guilty to unsafe handling of a firearm.

One of the key questions in the case is: Did Mr. Baldwin pull the trigger or was the gun malfunctioning?

Weeks after the fatal shooting, Mr. Baldwin told ABC News in a high-profile interview that he did not pull the trigger.

Legal experts say that forces the actor to have a much narrower defense because he can’t claim he doesn’t remember what happened or that it happened by chance.

Meanwhile, prosecutors painted Baldwin as an unsafe firearms operator and showed footage of him brandishing weapons on set and stated in documents that he was unable to control his emotions.

They also cited an FBI report to test Baldwin’s claims. The study found that the gun’s “trigger must be fully pulled or depressed to release the fully cocked or retracted hammer.”

During an analysis of the weapon in 2022, an FBI inspector struck the weapon with a mallet, damaging its internal components.

Mr Baldwin’s lawyer called the move “outrageous” and Debate over broken weapons Denying the defense the opportunity to fully examine the original condition of the firearm.

But a judge rejected a last-ditch effort to dismiss the manslaughter charge.

Tre Lovell, a California trial lawyer, said prosecutors would argue that Mr. Baldwin’s presence on a movie set did not diminish his basic gun skills and safety duties.

They will argue that anyone with a gun, whether in a movie scene or in real life, has an obligation to never point it at someone and to make sure the gun is not loaded with live ammunition.

Prosecutors tried to argue at a preliminary hearing that Mr. Baldwin had a greater responsibility for safety on set as a producer, but Judge Sommer sided with the defense and said that was irrelevant to the case.

That means Mr. Baldwin’s role as a producer – who receives credit for raising funds, creative input or physical production work – will not be included in the trial.

But Lovell said his defense team still has a lot of work to do to win the case, because they need to help jurors understand the movie scene — the space in which people are assigned roles and obligations.

“They need to show the jury that as soon as you start putting the responsibility on the actors to make sure the props are safe, the set will descend into chaos,” he said.

“There is no evidence that he [Baldwin] Even know the difference between fake bullets and real bullets.

Mr. Baldwin’s legal team is also likely to argue that the actor should be able to rely on the film’s armorer and security coordinator – Gutierrez-Reed and Halls, respectively – to ensure he can perform without worry own work.

Mr. Baldwin has no current plans to testify at the trial, but that doesn’t mean it won’t happen.

Most legal experts agree there is little reason to allow defendants to testify in any trial because it gives prosecutors a chance to cross-examine them.

Mr. Baldwin’s defense team could wait until near the end of the trial to make a decision based on how the proceedings progress.

The trial is expected to last 10 days.

Gutierrez-Reed did not testify during the trial.

Mr Baldwin faces up to 18 months in prison on charges related to Ms Hutchins’ death.

Gutierrez-Reed faced the same charges in the fatal shooting and was sentenced to the maximum penalty.

But even if a jury finds Baldwin not guilty, his legal troubles won’t end.

He faces several civil lawsuits, including one filed by Ms. Hutchins’ family.

In a negligence legal action, they claimed the cinematographer’s death and other injuries and deaths were “possible consequences” of a film set where there were guns, live ammunition and an actor who “inexplicably” pointed a gun at Ms Hutchins and shot.

Mr. Baldwin said in recent court documents that he has struggled to find acting work since the incident.

In May, the actor and his wife Hilaria announced that they and their seven children would star in a reality show next year.