SANTA FE, NM — SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Alec Baldwin A cinematographer’s shooting trial is set to begin Tuesday with the selection of jurors who will be tasked with deciding whether the actor is guilty of manslaughter.
Being chosen to serve on a trial of such main star accused of such a serious crime would be unusual even in Los Angeles or Baldwin’s hometown of New York. But it will essentially be a first-time experience for those chosen as jurors in Santa Fe, New Mexico, even though the state has increasingly become a Hollywood production center in the last years.
Baldwin, 66, faces up to 18 months in prison if jurors unanimously decide he committed the crime when a gun he was pointing at cinematographer Halyna Hutchins went off, killing her and injuring director Joel Souza during a rehearsal for the western film “Rust”. in October 2021 at Bonanza Creek Ranch, about 18 miles from where the trial is being held.
Baldwin said the gun went off accidentally after he followed instructions to point it at Hutchins, who was behind the camera. Unaware that the gun contained a live bullet, Baldwin said he pulled the hammer – not the trigger – and it went off.
The “30 Rock” and “The Hunt for Red October” star made his first court appearance on Monday when Judge Mary Marlowe Summer, in a significant victory for the defense, ruled at a pretrial hearing that Baldwin’s role as co-producer in “Rust” is not relevant to the trial.
The judge said the special circumstances of a celebrity trial should not prevent jury selection from being speedy and that opening statements should begin on Wednesday.
“I’m not worried about being able to pick a jury in a day,” Marlowe Summer said. “I think we’ll pick a jury in the afternoon.”
Special Prosecutor Kari MorrisseyHowever, he doubted that Baldwin’s lawyers, with whom she clashed before the trial, would make this possible.
“I don’t think with this group of defense lawyers that’s going to happen,” Morrissey said at the hearing.
Balduíno Lawyer Alex Spiro replied: “I never failed to pick a jury in one day. I can’t imagine this would be the first time.”
Dozens of potential jurors will be taken to court for questioning Tuesday morning. The cameras that will monitor the rest of the process will be turned off to protect your privacy. Jurors are expected to hear the case after a nine-day trial.
Lawyers may request your dismissal due to conflicts or other causes. The defense, according to state law, can dismiss up to five jurors without giving a reason, and the prosecution, three. More challenges will be allowed when four expected substitutes are chosen.
Before Marlowe Sommer’s ruling on Monday, prosecutors had hoped to highlight Baldwin’s on-set safety duties as a co-producer to bolster an alternative theory of guilt beyond the alleged negligent use of a firearm. Their goal was to link Baldwin’s behavior to “total disregard or indifference for the safety of others” under manslaughter law.
But the prosecution achieved other victories on Monday. They successfully argued for the exclusion of the summary findings of a state workplace safety investigation that placed much of the blame on the film’s assistant director, shifting blame away from Baldwin.
And the judge ruled they could show graphic footage from Hutchins’ autopsy and from police lapel cameras while treating his injuries.
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Dalton reported from Los Angeles.
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