Alec Baldwin’s ‘Rust’ shooting trial is about to begin: What you need to know

go through Emma Vardy, Samantha Glanville and Krystal HayesBBC News

Actor Alec Baldwin to stand trial in New Mexico on charges of Fatal shooting On the set of a western movie rust October 2021.

Baldwin, 66 Manslaughterwhich he denies. The trial will determine whether he should be held criminally responsible for the death of photographer Halina Hudgens.

The 42-year-old film director was rehearsing a scene when a gun went off, killing Baldwin. A bullet from the gun struck the cameraman and wounded director Joel Sosa.

Jury selection is set to begin on Tuesday (local time), with opening statements expected on Wednesday.

Baldwin – best known for playing Jack Donaghy on the NBC sitcom 30 Rock and played Donald Trump in a sketch show Saturday Night Live – Refuse to plead not guilty.

He insisted he did not pull the trigger and said the gun went off when he pulled the hammer of the revolver. His defense team argued that other crew members had a duty to ensure the safety of the guns.

But prosecutors called the claim “ridiculous,” claiming the actor did not share the information during his first interview after the shooting and arguing he had a duty to follow basic gun safety rules.

What happened on the Rust set?

Baldwin rehearsing in October 2021 rust The film was shot near Santa Fe, New Mexico. He was practicing drawing his rifle sideways because the director required him to point the gun toward the camera in the next scene.

Baldwin, who has an acting career spanning 40 years, stars in the film and co-produces it as a gangster whose 13-year-old grandson is convicted of manslaughter.

He raised his revolver during a rehearsal and the gun went off. A bullet struck Huggins in the chest and also hit director Joel Sosa in the shoulder.

Hutchins was taken to a hospital by helicopter but died from his injuries. Sosa was taken from the scene at Bonanza Creek Ranch by ambulance.

Court documents show that Baldwin and others on the set were unaware that 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 ammunition was slowly spread throughout the facility over a 12-day period.

Gutierrez-Reed, who loaded Baldwin’s gun before shooting him, was charged with manslaughter in Hutchins’ death. She was sentenced to 18 months in prison, the maximum penalty.

Mary Sommers, the judge presiding over the case, said Gutierrez-Reed’s mistakes allowed Hutchins to “turn a safe weapon into a deadly weapon,” taking her life.

David Halls, assistant director and safety coordinator, also pleaded guilty to unsafe use of a firearm.

What are the claims in this case?

One of the key questions in the case is: Did Baldwin pull the trigger, or did the gun malfunction?

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

Legal experts said this forced the actor to have a much narrower defence, as he could not claim he did not remember what happened or that it happened by accident.

Prosecutors, meanwhile, portrayed Baldwin as an unsafe gun user, showing footage of him brandishing weapons on set and saying in documents that he was unable to control his emotions.

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

In 2022, while analyzing the weapon, an FBI inspector struck it with a mallet and destroyed its internal parts.

Baldwin’s attorney called the move “outrageous” and argued the destroyed weapons deprived the defense of a full opportunity to examine the original guns.

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

What happens during the trial?

California trial attorney Tre Lovell said prosecutors will argue that even though Baldwin was on a movie set, that did not relieve him of basic gun handling skills and safety responsibilities.

They would argue that anyone with a gun, whether on a movie set or in real life, has an obligation to never point it at another person and to make sure it is empty.

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

That means Baldwin’s role as a producer — credit for raising money, creative input or actual production work — will not be factored into 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 the jury understand a movie scene — a space in which people have designated roles and obligations.

“They need to show the jury that once you start asking actors to keep props safe, the set becomes a mess,” he said.

“There is no evidence that he (Baldwin) knew the difference between fake and real bullets.”

Baldwin’s legal team will also likely argue that the actor should be able to rely on the film’s armorer and safety coordinator — Gutierrez-Reed and Halls, respectively — to ensure he can do his job without worry.

Will Baldwin testify?

Baldwin is not currently scheduled to testify in the trial, but that doesn’t mean he won’t testify.

Most legal experts believe there is little reason to have defendants testify in any trial because it gives prosecutors the opportunity to conduct cross-examination.

Baldwin’s defense team can wait until 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 his own trial.

Will Baldwin be sentenced to prison?

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

Gutierrez-Reed faced the same charges in the fatal shooting and received the maximum sentence.

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

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

In a negligence legal action, they claim the photographer’s death, along with other injuries and deaths, were “likely results” from the presence of guns and live ammunition on the film set and the fact that the actor “inexplicably” pointed a gun at Hudgens and fired.

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 TV show next year.

– BBC