Alec Baldwin ‘Rust’ trial live: Opening statements begin in actor’s manslaughter case

Prosecutor Johnson said Baldwin asked to be given the “biggest gun” available for the movie.

She told the jury during her opening that they would hear evidence that firearm was sold to the “Rust” set in “perfect” working order.

Gloria Allred, attorney for Halyna Hutchins’ parents and sister, speaks out ahead of court.

Special prosecutor Erlinda Johnson has started her opening statement.

“When someone plays make believe, with a real gun. 

And that person disregards the Cardinal rule of gun safety… People die.”

Johnson says the budget on “Rust” was tight and crew was inexperienced.

Stephen Baldwin, the actor brother of Alec Baldwin, sits behind him in court on Wednesday.

Opening statements are expected to start shortly.

Court has resumed for a second day in Alec Baldwin’s trial in Santa Fe. A jury was selected on Tuesday.

Baldwin is in court and opening statements will begin shortly.

The proceedings can be livestreamed here:

Prosecutors say they’ll present evidence that Baldwin went “off script” and failed to follow basic industry standards for firearms safety when he pointed the firearm at Hutchins on October 21, 2021.

“At the end of the day, the prosecutor’s main theory is that this was a gun involved, and Baldwin had a gun in his hand, and it doesn’t matter if it’s a film set or hunting safety class, you’re responsible for what comes out of the end of the barrel,” said John Day, a Santa Fe-based defense attorney and former prosecutor.

Testimony at trial will delve into shortcomings in a final safety check of the gun before Baldwin began rehearsing with it, as well as the mechanics of the weapon and whether it could have fired without a trigger pull. The live bullet that killed Hutchins also wounded director Joel Souza.

Prosecutors and defense attorneys selected 16 jurors — 11 women and five men — on Tuesday, seating a jury from a region with strong currents of gun ownership and safety informed by backcountry hunting.

Four of the jurors will be deemed alternates while the other 12 deliberate once they get the case.

The shooting death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, a 42-year-old rising star in her craft, nearly three years ago sent shock waves through the film industry and led to one felony charge against Baldwin that could result in up to 18 months in prison.

Baldwin attorney Alex Spiro probed prospective jurors on Tuesday for strong opinions about gun safety and asked whether a person must entirely take responsibility for whether a gun is loaded or may “rely on experts, does anybody have a problem with that?”

Most who answered said they always treat a gun as if it were loaded.

Opening statements in Alec Baldwin’s involuntary manslaughter trial are expected to begin today.

A jury was selected on Tuesday. The Hollywood actor arrived at the Santa Fe courthouse Tuesday morning with his wife Hilaria and their youngest child.

Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer said the trial is only expected to last nine days.

Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, a movie weapons armorer, received the maximum sentence of 18 months in jail for involuntary manslaughter in the fatal shooting of a cinematographer by Alec Baldwin on a Western movie set.

A New Mexico judge found that Gutierrez-Reed’s recklessness amounted to a serious violent offense, while noting few indications of genuine remorse from the defendant since her conviction in March.

Prosecutors blame Gutierrez-Reed for unwittingly bringing live ammunition onto the set of “Rust,” where it was expressly prohibited, and for failing to follow basic gun-safety protocols .