SANTA FE, N.M. — SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Alec Baldwin’s trial in the shooting death of a cameraman begins Tuesday with the selection of jurors who will have to decide whether the actor is guilty of involuntary manslaughter.
Being chosen to participate in a trial of such a major star accused of such a major crime would be unusual, even in Los Angeles or Baldwin’s hometown of New York. But it will essentially be an unprecedented experience for those chosen as judges in Santa Fe, New Mexico, even though the state has increasingly become a center of Hollywood production in recent years.
Baldwin, 66, could face up to 18 months in prison if jurors unanimously decide he committed the crime when a revolver he pointed at cameraman Halyna Hutchins went off, killing her and wounding 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 has said the gun accidentally went off after he followed instructions to point it at Hutchins, who was standing behind the camera. Unaware that the gun contained a live bullet, Baldwin said he pulled back the hammer — not the trigger — and it fired.
The star of “30 Rock” and “The Hunt for Red October” made his first court appearance Monday when Judge Mary Marlowe Summer, in a major victory for the defense, ruled during a hearing that Baldwin’s role as an accomplice producer “Rest” is not relevant to the test.
The judge has said that the special circumstances of a celebrity trial should not prevent jury selection from proceeding quickly, and that opening statements should begin on Wednesday.
“I’m not worried about being able to pick a jury in one day,” Marlowe Summer said. “I think we’ll pick a jury by noon.”
However, special prosecutor Kari Morrissey doubted whether Baldwin’s lawyers, with whom she has clashed in the run-up to the trial, would make that possible.
“I suspect that won’t happen with this group of lawyers,” Morrissey said during the hearing.
Baldwin attorney Alex Spiro responded, “I have never not picked a jury in one day. I can’t imagine this would be the first time.”
Dozens of potential jurors will be brought into the courtroom for questioning Tuesday morning. Cameras that will perform the rest of the procedure will be turned off to protect their privacy. Jurors are expected to hear the case after a nine-day trial.
Lawyers can request dismissal due to conflict or other causes. Under state law, the defense can dismiss up to five jurors without cause, while the prosecution can dismiss three. More challenges are possible if four expected alternatives are chosen.
Before Marlowe Sommer’s ruling Monday, prosecutors had hoped to highlight Baldwin’s on-set safety obligations as a co-producer to support an alternative theory of guilt beyond his alleged negligent use of a firearm. They attempted to link Baldwin’s behavior to “total disregard or indifference for the safety of others” under the involuntary manslaughter law.
But the prosecution scored even more victories on Monday. They successfully argued for the exclusion of summary findings from a state workplace safety investigation, placing 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, as well as from police lapel cameras as they treated her injuries.
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Dalton reported from Los Angeles.
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