SANTA FE, N.M. — Prosecutors tried to portray Alec Baldwin as a rule-breaker and with little regard for safety on the first day of his trial in New Mexico in the shooting of a cameraman.
Special Prosecutor Erlinda Ocampo Johnson repeatedly referred to Baldwin playing “pretend” with a revolver on the set of the movie “Rust,” saying it led to very real danger and the death of Halyna Hutchins, who she called “a vibrant woman ‘ mentioned. year-old rising star.”
Ocampo Johnson told jurors in her opening statement Wednesday that Baldwin “asked to be assigned the largest gun available” and that during training for that “he had people film him running around shooting this gun.”
The prosecutor said the behind-the-scenes video shows Baldwin casually ignoring basic firearm safety.
“You’ll see him use this gun as a pointer to point at people and things,” Ocampo Johnson said. “You’ll see him cock the hammer when he’s not supposed to cock the hammer, you’ll see him put his finger on the trigger when his finger shouldn’t be on the trigger.”
Hutchins’ death and the injury of director Joel Souza nearly three years ago sent shockwaves through the film industry and led to the involuntary manslaughter charge against Baldwin, which could carry up to 18 months in prison.
The trial of the 66-year-old star of “30 Rock” and frequent host of “Saturday Night Live” continues Thursday with testimony from a Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Department crime scene technician.
The beginning of testimony from the technician, Marissa Poppell, allowed jurors to see the revolver and round used in the shooting.
Baldwin’s attorney Alex Spiro emphasized in his opening statement that Baldwin was only doing what actors always do.
“He has to be able to take that gun and use it the way the person he’s playing would,” Spiro told jurors.
This also includes pulling the trigger. Baldwin has said the gun was fired accidentally, but Spiro said it still wouldn’t be a homicide even if he fired it intentionally.
“On a movie set you can pull the trigger,” Spiro said.
Spiro called the shooting an “unspeakable tragedy” and that an “amazing person” dies, but said responsibility lies with the film’s gunmaker, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, who has already been convicted of involuntary manslaughter, and assistant director David Halls, who told Baldwin, the gun was “cold.”
“It was checked and double-checked by those who made sure the gun was safe,” Spiro said. “He didn’t tamper with it, he didn’t load it himself. He did not leave it unattended.”
The first witness to take the stand was Nicholas LeFleur, the first law enforcement officer to arrive on the film set at Bonanza Creek Ranch after the shooting, and his lapel camera video gave jurors a glimpse of the chaotic scene: a stark image of an apparently unconscious Hutchins as LeFleur and others tried to revive her.
Later in the video, you can see LeFleur telling Baldwin not to talk to the other potential witnesses, but Baldwin does so repeatedly.
“Did Mr. Baldwin have to talk about the incident?” Special Prosecutor Kari Morrissey asked him.
“No ma’am,” LeFleur replied.
“He seems to be doing it anyway?” Morrissey asked.
“Yes, ma’am,” LeFleur said.
Among those in the stands behind Baldwin watching the trial were his wife Hilaria Baldwin, younger brother Stephen Baldwin and older sister Elizabeth Keuchler — who occasionally wiped away tears during the proceedings.
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Dalton reported from Los Angeles.
___ For more coverage of the involuntary manslaughter trial of Alec Baldwin, visit: https://apnews.com/hub/alec-baldwin
