Alec Baldwin‘s legal showdown over Rust shooting begins
A tense Hollywood drama is set to unfold when Alec Baldwin stands trial. Here’s what you need to know.
A tense Hollywood drama will begin to unfold this week in a New Mexico courtroom when Alec Baldwin stands trial over the killing of a cinematographer on a film set in October 2021.
The 66-year-old Blue Jasmine star denies a charge of involuntary manslaughter after a prop gun containing a live round was fired during rehearsal by the actor, killing Halyna Hutchins.
The low budget independent Western film, Rust was the setting for the tragedy, which has already seen the person in charge of the film’s firearms delivered an 18-month prison sentence. But some wonder if the same rules will apply to Baldwin who is considered Hollywood royalty.
Baldwin’s lawyers have made multiple attempts to have the case dismissed, including claiming the FBI had damaged the gun that killed Hutchins.
But Mary Marlowe Sommer, the judge who heard Gutierrez-Reed’s case, has rejected each request - most recently last week, clearing the way for a trial. Here are key things to know.
WHAT IS ALEC BALDWIN FAMOUS FOR?
Baldwin has been a box office name since the late 1980s and ’90s appearing in films like Beetlejuice, The Hunt for Red October, and Working Girl.
He appeared as Julia Roberts’ horrible boyfriend in Notting Hill, and starred as a Bernie Madoff-type fraudster husband in Blue Jasmine opposite Australia’s Cate Blanchett, who won an Oscar for the role.
He moved into comedy with TV’s 30 Rock, and played Donald Trump on Saturday Night Live.
His private life has been the subject of speculation and public outbursts of anger directed at the media have resulted in run-ins with the law.
Baldwin has an adult daughter, Ireland Baldwin, with his first wife Kim Basinger, and seven small children with his second wife, Hilaria Baldwin.
WHAT IS THIS CASE ABOUT?
Halyna Hutchins, 42, a Ukraine-born cinematographer, died on the afternoon of October 21, 2021 at Bonanza Creek Ranch, outside of Santa Fe. She was in a church rehearsing a scene with Baldwin when the revolver he was practising with went off.
Hutchins was fatally struck while Joel Souza, the film’s director, was injured.
Blame was quickly pinned on Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, 24, the novice armourer responsible for gun safety. In March, she was convicted and jailed for 18 months, the maximum sentence allowed.
Industry veterans said it was astonishing that live ammunition had ended up on a film set.
Amid a flurry of civil lawsuits, the Santa Fe district attorney began building a criminal case.
BALDWIN’S PREVIOUS BRUSHES WITH THE LAW
A photographer claimed in 1995 that Baldwin punched and broke his nose.
Baldwin was acquitted of misdemeanour battery charges in the case and the photographer won a civil case against Baldwin for US$4,500 in damages.
In 2011, Baldwin was kicked off an American Airlines flight for refusing to turn off his phone after the plane was ready for departure, and used offensive language to the crew, the company said in a statement on its Facebook page at the time.
In 2012 Baldwin allegedly punched two separate photographers.
In 2013 Baldwin allegedly pinned a photographer who was following him and his wife against a car; he allegedly called another photographer an anti-LGBT slur, and in that same year was arrested for illegally biking in New York. “He got belligerent and began arguing with the officers,” a spokesperson said. “He was taken into custody at the 13th precinct [for identification].” Charges were dropped.
In 2018, Baldwin was arrested after allegedly punching a man, and was charged at New York City’s 6th Precinct, he later plead guilty to harassment, and was ordered to pay a US$120 fine and take anger management classes.
Most recently, Halyna Hutchins’s widower, Matthew, settled a wrongful death claim with Baldwin over the 2021 Rust shooting.
Last month, The New York Times reported that Baldwin and Rust Movie Productions are behind on a payment to Matthew Hutchins and his son.
WHAT CHARGES DOES BALDWIN FACE?
Baldwin is charged with felony involuntary manslaughter, a charge he denies. If a jury unanimously convicts him, he could get 18 months in prison.
In January 2023, the Santa Fe County District Attorney’s Office charged the Rust actor-producer with two counts of involuntary manslaughter, but those charges were dropped.
HOW LONG WILL THE TRIAL LAST?
The trial, which will take place near the movie set and location of the fatal shooting, is estimated to last nine or 10 days.
Jury selection begins on Tuesday, with opening statements expected on Wednesday, and the projected end of evidence and arguments the following Friday.
However, the jurors can deliberate as long as needed.
THE PROSECUTION
Santa Fe County District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies appointed Kari Morrissey as a special prosecutor in the case in early 2023. Morrissey had the indictment against Baldwin dismissed, but took it up again in January by grand jury after further examination of the evidence, she said.
Morrissey said in her closing arguments during the Gutierrez-Reed trial: “Baldwin’s conduct and his lack of gun safety inside that church on that day is something that he’s going to have to answer for.”
There will be two major points of inquiry, according to experts: the allegedly chaotic atmosphere of the movie set, and the specifics of the Italian-made classic revolver that Baldwin pointed at Hutchins.
THE DEFENCE
Baldwin’s team consists of New York lawyers including Alex Spiro, who has represented Elon Musk, Jay-Z, Megan Thee Stallion and others at a rmoured rate of more than US$2000 per hour.
He is expected to aggressively cross-examination the state’s witnesses.
The defence will argue that it was not the actor’s job to ensure the safety of the gun.
THE WITNESSES
Firearms experts for the prosecution who testified at the Gutierrez-Reed trial are returning to the witness stand to testify about Baldwin’s handling of the gun.
David Halls, the assistant director on Rust, is included on the list of potential witnesses Baldwin’s lawyers can call to the stand. He handed Baldwin the gun that killed Hutchins, according to Gutierrez-Reed.
THE JURORS
The 12 citizens of Santa Fe County that will make up the jury will have to reach just one verdict - guilty or not guilty - on a single count.
Some legal experts believe Baldwin’s star power, and the fact that he has signed on for a reality TV show, will influence the jury in a positive way.
Neama Rahmani, a former federal prosecutor based in Los Angeles, believes the Hollywood actor has an ace up his sleeve. “Juries love celebrities,” Rahmani said, according to The Sunday Times. “It’s hard to convict celebrities in this country because people love them.”
- With AFP
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