Almost three years after the cameraman Halyna Hutchins was shot dead on the set of the movie “Rust” in New Mexico, Alec Baldwin is on trial about her death. Here are the essential things to know.
The actor is set to enter a New Mexico courtroom for the first time since the October 21, 2021, shooting in which he is accused of crime of involuntary manslaughterIf a jury unanimously convicts him, he could face up to 18 months in prison.
Baldwin, the Western’s star and co-producer, was pointing a revolver at Hutchins during a rehearsal in a small church on the film’s Bonanza Creek Ranch set when the gun went off, killing her and wounding director Joel Souza. Baldwin has said he pulled the hammer back — but not the trigger — and the gun went off.
Two main themes will prevail, one large and one small: the chaotic atmosphere of the film set and the details of the classic Italian revolver that Baldwin pointed at Hutchins.
It has never been officially determined who brought the live ammunition that killed Hutchins to the set. Prosecutors at the previous trial of gunmaker “Rust” Hannah Gutierrez-Reed claimed she was responsible. She was convicted of involuntary manslaughter and given the same 18-month prison sentence as Baldwin.
Prosecutors have two alternative standards to prove the charge. One is based on negligent use of a firearm. The other is proving beyond a reasonable doubt that Baldwin acted with total disregard or indifference for the safety of others.
Despite the legal and technical complexities of the case, the twelve Santa Fe County citizens who make up the jury will have to reach only one verdict – guilty or not guilty – on one charge.
The trial in the First Judicial District Court of New Mexico — about 20 miles northeast of the film set and shooting — is expected to last nine days, and Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer insists she will keep the attorneys on track and on schedule. Jury selection begins Tuesday, with opening statements expected Wednesday and a conclusion scheduled for the following Friday. Once the jurors have the case, however, they can deliberate for as long as they need.
Baldwin, 66, rose to stardom in the late 1980s and early ’90s with films such as “Beetlejuice” and “The Hunt for Red October” and has remained a household name ever since. He would go on to have memorable supporting roles in films such as 2003’s “The Cooler,” for which he earned an Oscar nomination. Comedy dominated his later career, as he won two Emmys for his role as network executive Jack Donaghy on six seasons of “30 Rock” and a third for his role as Donald Trump on “Saturday Night Live.”
He also played the role of an outrageous public personality, as a beloved talk show guest, a sought-after liberal and at times as a man unable to control his angry outbursts, leading to public humiliation and a previous run-in with the law that was far less serious than the current one.
Baldwin is the eldest of six children — five of them actors — from Massapequa, New York, who has lived most of his adult life in New York City. He has an adult daughter, Ireland Baldwin, with his first wife Kim Basinger, and seven young children with his second wife, Hilaria Baldwin.
Baldwin will bring with him an elite team of lawyers, primarily New York attorneys, many of whom are Harvard Law graduates, from the law firm of Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan. Alex Spiro, a 41-year-old attorney who has represented Elon Musk, Megan Thee Stallion and other prominent figures and has become one of the most sought-after lawyers in the country, will aggressively cross-examine the state’s witnesses.
The defense will attempt to show that it is not an actor’s job to make sure there are no live bullets in his gun. This position is strongly supported by Baldwin’s union, the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists.
Baldwin said in an interview with ABC News, and implied in interviews with authorities, that he never pulled the trigger of the revolver.
His lawyers will also attack on the gun evidenceand the severe damage done to the revolver during an FBI test, they said, amounted to the destruction of evidence and gave the defense no opportunity to examine it.
Firearms experts for the prosecution who testified at Gutierrez-Reed’s trial will return to the stand, over Baldwin’s objections, to testify about his handling of the revolver and whether the weapon functioned properly.
And they can pressure witnesses to determine whether Hutchins received proper medical treatment between the shooting and the announcement of her death at the hospital.
Santa Fe County District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies Kari Morrissey Appointed Special Prosecutor in the Baldwin case in early 2023 after her predecessor resigned due to conflicts of interest. Morrissey promptly had the charges against Baldwin dismissed, but revived in January of this year by the grand jury. Both moves came after further examination of the evidence, she said.
Morrissey graduated from the University of New Mexico and its law school, and practiced law in Albuquerque for more than 20 years. New Mexico criminal defense attorney Erlinda Johnson joined Morrissey’s team in April.
The lawsuit could lead to a culture shock within the legal team, as has already become apparent in heated hearings and filings.
Morrissey and Spiro in particular have clashed frequently — “I’m not going to sit here and be called a liar!” she said during one such moment at a hearing in May — and she’s likely to do the same, stirring up some drama as the proceedings continue.
Prosecutors will attempt to convince the jury that Baldwin, as producer and key person on set, acted recklessly in the production and that he was negligent as an actor in handling his weapon.
The crew members in the small church building who became eyewitnesses to Hutchins’ murder will provide the most crucial testimony in the trial. They include director Joel Souza, who was himself shot and wounded by a bullet from Baldwin’s gun, and assistant director David Halls, the film’s assistant director who some have accused of being responsible for the shooting but who did not plead guilty to negligent handling of a firearm.
Zac Sneesby, a crew member who held a boom microphone during the rehearsal, will testify that he saw Baldwin pull the trigger on the gun, prosecutors said in court documents, making him perhaps the most important witness of all.
The prosecution may also call Gutierrez-Reed to testify, but Marlowe Sommer has declined the immunity deal they wanted to give her.
The jury will hear testimony from firearms experts who say the revolver, which was in working order, could not have gone off without a pull on the trigger.
And Baldwin himself can take the stand in his own defense, but he doesn’t have to. His lawyers haven’t said what he will do.
Santa Fe, the capital of New Mexico, an arts mecca of 89,000 and a tourist destination for its historic Southwestern beauty, is no small town. And the modern legal complex downtown is hardly a rural courthouse. But the location is still a far cry from the urban coastal courts that have hosted the celebrity trials of Bill Cosby, OJ Simpson, Harvey Weinstein and Donald Trump.
The proceedings could produce an unusual scene. Dozens of national media will vie for space in the Santa Fe courtroom and an overflow room, and cameras will surround the courthouse for arrivals and departures.
And the public can watch. The trial will be streamed and broadcast by various media, including Court TV.
Hutchins, who was 42 when she died, was an up-and-coming cinematographer and mother of a young son when she was killed. She grew up on a remote Soviet military base and worked on documentaries in Eastern Europe before studying film in Los Angeles and embarking on a promising film career.
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