Alec Baldwin’s involuntary manslaughter trial begins with jury selection
SANTA FE, NM — SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Alec Baldwins The trial in the death of a cameraman begins Tuesday with the selection of jurors who will decide whether the actor is guilty of involuntary manslaughter.
Being chosen to serve in a trial of such a big star Being accused of such a major crime would be unusual even in Los Angeles or Baldwin’s native New York. But it will be an essentially unprecedented experience for those selected as jurors in Santa Fe, New Mexico, even though the state is increasingly a center of Hollywood production during the past years.
Baldwin, 66, could face up to 18 months in prison if jurors unanimously decide he committed the crime when a revolver he pointed at cameraman Halyna Hutchins discharged, killing her and wounding director Joel Souza during a rehearsal for the Western film “Rust” in October 2021 at Bonanza Creek Ranch, about 18 miles (29 kilometers) from where the trial is being held.
Baldwin has said the gun went off accidentally after he followed instructions to point it at him. Hutchins, who was behind the cameraBaldwin said that without knowing there was a live bullet in the gun, he pulled the hammer (not the trigger) and the gun went off.
The star of “30 Rock” and “The Hunt for Red October” made his first court appearance Monday when Judge Mary Marlowe Summer, in a major victory for the defense, ruled during a preliminary hearing that Baldwin’s role as co-producer about “Rest” is not relevant to the process.
The judge said the special circumstances of a celebrity trial should not prevent jury selection from proceeding quickly and that opening statements should begin on Wednesday.
“I’m not worried about picking a jury in one day,” Marlowe Summer said. “I think we can pick a jury by noon.”
Special Prosecutor Kari Morrisseyhowever, doubted whether Baldwin’s lawyers, with whom she had clashed in the run-up to the trial, would make that possible.
“I suspect that’s not going to happen with this group of defense attorneys,” Morrissey said during the hearing.
Attorney Baldwin Alex Spiro replied, “I’ve never not chosen a jury in one day. I can’t imagine this would be the first time.”
Dozens of potential jurors are being brought into the courtroom for questioning Tuesday morning. Cameras that will record the rest of the proceedings will be turned off to protect their privacy. Jurors are expected to hear their cases after a nine-day trial.
Attorneys can request to be dismissed for conflicts or other reasons. The defense can dismiss up to five jurors without cause, the prosecution can dismiss three, under state law. More challenges are allowed when four expected alternates are chosen.
Before Marlowe Sommer’s sentencing on Monday, prosecutors had hoped to highlight Baldwin’s safety duties on set as a co-producer to support an alternative theory of culpability beyond his alleged negligent use of a firearm. They sought to link Baldwin’s conduct to “total disregard or indifference for the safety of others” under involuntary manslaughter law.
But prosecutors won other victories Monday, successfully arguing to exclude summary findings from a state investigation into workplace safety that placed much of the blame on the film’s assistant director, shifting the blame away from Baldwin.
The judge ruled that they could show graphic footage from Hutchins’ autopsy and from police body cameras during treatment for her injuries.
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Dalton reported from Los Angeles.
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