by The trial and conviction of an army supervisor for a fatal shooting on a film set has given Alec Baldwin an unusual window into how his own trial might play out.
Hannah Gutierrez-Reed was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter in the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of Rust, after less than three hours of jury deliberations.
She was quickly taken into custody while awaiting sentencing in New Mexico, spending up to 18 months in prison.
Alec Baldwin a prominent figure in testimony and closing arguments over two weeks that emphasized his authority as co-producer and lead actor on the film.
Both the prosecution and defense lawyers in the Gutierrez-Reed trial dissected video footage of Baldwin before the shooting for clues about a lapse in firearm safety.
The 65-year-old’s trial is scheduled for July and will feature the same judge and prosecutors, and many of the same witnesses.
He insisted that he pulled the gun’s hammer back, but he did not pull the trigger, and the weapon fired, killing Hutchins and wounding director Joel Souza.
Emily D Baker, a legal analyst and former Los Angeles deputy district attorney, who was not involved in the case but followed it closely, said Baldwin’s legal team will hope to benefit from seeing how Gutierrez’s trial plays out. -Reed out.
Dress rehearsal
“They’re in an incredible position to watch this prosecutor in action, to see how this judge works, and to know exactly what these experts are going to say and how they’re going to present it to the jury,” said Ms. Baker.
“I don’t think Baldwin will want to plead in this case, and I think his legal team will tell him that this is a very different case than the case against Hannah.”
Ms. Baker said a weapons expert for the prosecution in the Gutierrez-Reed case gave strong testimony, but it aligned with what Baldwin’s team had been saying all along — that it wasn’t his job to check the weapon.
Expert witness and firearms consultant Bryan Carpenter testified that images showed Baldwin firing blanks toward a camera inside a “no-go” zone at close range, flouting safety protocols as he ordered staff members to quickly reload his revolver , and swallow a gun as her pointing stick after the end of one scene.
Another clip captures the sound of Baldwin firing a gun after a director calls out, “Cut!”
Investigators have not found any video recordings of the shooting, which took place during a rehearsal inside a makeshift church in October 2021.
But Gutierrez-Reed’s trial included previously undisclosed testimony from eyewitnesses to the shooting.
Among them was Souza, who felt the shock of a bullet as he moved in for a view on the camera monitor – but never saw the gun that fired him.
Doll camera operator and assistant director, Dave Halls, also gave visual accounts of a revolver shot and its aftermath.
Screenwriter Mamie Mitchell, meanwhile, said the script did not call for Baldwin to point the gun.
‘Trigger needed to be pulled’
“Alec Baldwin’s behavior and his lack of gun safety inside the church that day is something he will have to answer for,” prosecutor Kari Morrissey said in her closing arguments against Gutierrez-Reed.
“Not yours and not today. That will be with another jury, another day.”
Morrissey and co-counsel Jason Lewis presented the case against Baldwin to a grand jury in January and received an indictment on the single felony count that gives them two avenues for prosecution.
A recent army analysis allowed them to reopen the case after an initial charge of involuntary manslaughter against Baldwin was dismissed.
That analysis by Arizona Forensic Services concluded that “the trigger would have to be pulled or depressed enough to release the fully cocked or retracted hammer of the evidence revolver.”
The author of an earlier FBI report on the gun at the Gutierrez-Reed trial testified that the gun and all safety features arrived in working order, and that the only way the gun would fire with the hammer fully retracted was hit it with a mallet. and break it.
Baldwin’s defense attorneys have shown no sign of compromising with special prosecutors appointed by Santa Fe District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies, who is running for re-election and faces a Democratic primary challenge in June by former D.A. .
‘Nobody avoided guilt’
A February fundraising message from Mr. Carmack-Altwies promised justice for Ms. Hutchins and her family “regardless of who else is involved,” without naming Baldwin.
“No one has avoided guilt because of fame, wealth or connections in my jurisdiction,” she wrote.
During Gutierrez-Reed’s trial last week, one witness for the prosecution stated the obvious when a prosecutor asked, “Is Mr. Baldwin on trial today?”
“It seems a little, yes,” said Ross Addiego, a staff member who witnessed the fatal shooting at close range and sued Baldwin in civil court.
The lawsuit is one in a series of legal actions, including wrongful death claims filed by members of Hutchins’ family, focused on allegations that the defendants were lax with safety standards. Baldwin and other defendants have disputed those allegations.
Filming of Rust moved to Montana after shooting in New Mexico, under an agreement with Hutchins’ widower, Matthew Hutchins, who served as executive producer.
