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A
New Mexico jury of 12 and four alternates -- 11 women and five
men chosen Tuesday -- will hear prosecutors on Wednesday outline
arguments that Baldwin disregarded safety during filming of the
low-budget movie before pointing a gun at Hutchins during a
rehearsal, cocking it and pulling the trigger as they set up a
camera shot on a set southwest of Santa Fe.
The reproduction 1873 Single Action Army revolver fired a live
round, inadvertently loaded by armorer Hannah Gutierrez, that
killed the rising star cinematographer and wounded director Joel
Souza.
Since a police interview on Oct. 21, 2021, the day of the
shooting, Baldwin has argued the gun just "went off."
In an ABC News interview two months later, Baldwin told George
Stephanopoulos he did not pull the trigger. A 2022 FBI test
found the gun was in normal working condition and would not fire
from full cock without the trigger being pulled.
State prosecutors charged Baldwin with involuntary manslaughter
in January 2022. They dropped charges three months later after
Baldwin's lawyers presented photographic evidence the gun was
modified, arguing it would fire more easily, bolstering the
actor's accidental discharge argument.
Prosecutors called a grand jury to reinstate the charge in
January after an independent firearms expert confirmed the 2022
FBI study.
FBI testing broke the gun, and Baldwin's lawyers will tell
jurors that destruction of the weapon prevented them from
proving the gun was modified.
Armorer Gutierrez, whose job on the set of "Rust" included
managing firearms safely, was convicted of involuntary
manslaughter in March for loading the live round.
Prosecutors will have to persuade jurors Baldwin is also guilty
of willful and reckless criminal negligence.
(Reporting By Andrew Hay; editing by Donna Bryson, Aurora Ellis
and Leslie Adler)
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