Alec Baldwin’s trial for manslaughter after fatally shooting the director of photography for his western Rust in 2021, is due to start on Tuesday and promises to dissect this tragedy over the course of ten days.
The 66-year-old actor faces up to 18 months in prison.
While filming on a New Mexico ranch in October 2021, the star brandished a gun that was supposed to only hold blanks, but a real projectile from it killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and injured director Joel Souza.
The actor has always explained that he was assured that the weapon was harmless and denies having pulled the trigger. His lawyers have filed numerous appeals to try to drop the charges, to no avail.
The prosecution accuses him of erratic behavior on set, disregarding basic safety rules. Prosecutors will have to convince the jurors of this, whose selection is expected to take up most of Tuesday.
The trial will be closely watched in Hollywood, where the actors’ union fears the case could set a historic precedent. The rare incident had already prompted calls to ban firearms on sets.
Diva behavior
On Monday, Mr. Baldwin appeared focused in Santa Fe court for a preliminary hearing, wearing a dark suit and striped tie and taking detailed notes in a small notebook.
The actor is sometimes seen in Hollywood as the scapegoat for an accident that involved the entire production, pursued because of his star status.
But his detractors point out that he was an executive producer on the low-budget film, even though he is only being prosecuted as an actor, and point out his diva-like behavior on set.
“Mr. Baldwin’s pressure on the crew on the set regularly compromised safety,” prosecutors said in court documents, denouncing an actor who “regularly yelled” at everyone and wanted to finish the film faster.
While the actor claims to have never pulled the trigger – a theory deemed “absurd” by the prosecution – his defense argues that he was not responsible for checking that the weapon was not loaded.
The investigation never established how live ammunition – which is in principle prohibited – ended up on the set. But the gunsmith of RustHannah Gutierrez-Reed, was already sentenced to 18 months in prison in April for her role in the case.
She was the one who placed the bullet in the replica of the period pistol used by the actor.
Gun broken during investigation
His trial earlier this year provided a taste of the prosecution’s case against the star.
“Alec Baldwin’s Conduct and Lack of Gun Safety […] “That day are things he’s going to have to answer for,” prosecutor Kari Morrissey said. “Not with you and not today. It’s going to be with another jury, another day.”
Now that this fateful moment has arrived, the defense promises to exonerate the actor.
His lawyers are contesting the FBI’s expert report, which concluded that the gun could not have fired without the trigger being pulled. Because the federal police damaged parts of the weapon while conducting tests to explore the possibility of an accidental shot.
The star’s lawyers have particularly insisted on this argument in an attempt to avoid a trial.
Since the tragedy, filming of Rust was completed in Montana, but the film has not yet been released in theaters.
Halyna Hutchins’ widower Matthew has been promoted to executive producer, settling civil lawsuits against Alec Baldwin in an undisclosed settlement and blaming his wife’s death on a “terrible accident.”