A jury in Santa Fe will begin weighing testimony this week to determine whether actor Alec Baldwin is criminally responsible for a 2021 shooting death on the set of the Western movie “Rust.”
The death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins from a bullet fired by a gun in Baldwin’s hand has been at the center of a legal battle for more than 3 1/2 years.
Baldwin, who faces a charge of involuntary manslaughter in Hutchins’ death, is expected to be sitting at the defense table Monday when jury selection begins in Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer’s courtroom.
Testimony could begin as early as Wednesday in New Mexico’s biggest-ever celebrity trial. The trial is scheduled through July 19.
Some 40 news organizations are expected to descend on the 1st Judicial District Courthouse in Santa Fe for the trial, said Barry Massey, spokesman for the Administrative Office of the Courts.
At least a dozen television news networks will have a conspicuous presence on the east plaza of the Santa Fe Courthouse throughout the trial. ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, Telemundo, Fox and NewsNation and international networks BBC, Sky News, ITN, Japan-based Fuji and Australia’s Nine Network have registered to cover the trial.
CourtTV will stream the trial at courttv.com.
Baldwin, the lead actor and co-producer of the movie, was rehearsing a scene on the set at Bonanza Creek Ranch near Santa Fe when the gun he was holding discharged, fatally shooting Hutchins and injuring director Joel Souza.
Information soon emerged that several members of the camera crew had resigned the night before the shooting, citing safety concerns — among them, that two accidental blank rounds had been discharged on the set in recent days.
The movie’s armorer, Hannah Gutierrez Reed, 27, who had previously supervised weapons for only one movie, was convicted on March 6 of involuntary manslaughter in Hutchins’ death following a closely watched trial in Santa Fe.
On April 14, Marlowe Sommer sentenced Gutierrez Reed, who was 24 at the time of the shootings, to the maximum 18 months in prison. “You alone turned a safe weapon (into) a lethal weapon,” the judge told her at sentencing.
Baldwin also faces a maximum sentence of 18 months in prison if a jury finds him guilty of the same charge.
Both prosecutors and defense attorneys have identified Gutierrez Reed as a potential witness in Baldwin’s trial.
Baldwin has maintained that he did not pull the trigger of the prop Colt .45 revolver he was holding on Oct. 21, 2021, during a rehearsal on the movie set. The gunshot killed Hutchins and injured Souza.
In December 2021, Baldwin told ABC’s George Stephanopoulos that he did not pull the trigger of the gun he was holding when it fired.
“I didn’t pull the trigger,” Baldwin said during the interview. “I would never point a gun at anyone and pull the trigger at them.”
