In short:
Opening statements have been made in Alec Baldwin’s involuntary manslaughter trial over the shooting death of Halyna Hutchins on the set of the film Rust.
The prosecution says Mr Baldwin violated the “cardinal rules of firearm safety,” while the defence states the actor was failed by the movie’s safety experts, who have already been convicted.
What’s next?
Prosecutors will need to persuade jurors that Mr Baldwin is guilty of wilful and reckless criminal negligence. He faces up to 18 months in prison if convicted.
Actor Alec Baldwin, 66, took notes as he calmly listened to opening statements in his involuntary manslaughter trial.
Mr Baldwin is on trial for the fatal on-set shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins who was killed on the set of the film Rust. Director Joel Souza was injured.
In opening statements to a New Mexico jury of 12 and four alternates, prosecutor Erlinda Johnson told the court Mr Baldwin acted in a reckless manner.
“When someone plays make-believe with a real gun in a real-life workplace, and while playing make-believe with that gun violates the cardinal rules of firearm safety, people’s lives are endangered and someone could be killed,” Ms Johnson told the court.
“And while it was a movie set, it was a real-life workplace for many people.
“But you will hear this workplace was on a tight budget, and you will learn that some of the people who were hired to work at this workplace were very inexperienced, and one of those was the armourer, a very young woman named Hannah Gutierrez-Reed.”
Gutierrez-Reed received the maximum 18-month sentence after being found guilty in March of involuntary manslaughter. First assistant director Dave Halls was given a six-month suspended sentence in a plea deal.
Ms Johnson told the court Mr Baldwin placed others in danger and acted “without due regard for the safety of others”.
Defence says Mr Baldwin was an actor, acting
But Mr Baldwin’s defence attorney Alex Spiro said the actor was simply doing his job, rehearsing under the guidance and instruction of Hutchins and Souza.
“This was an unspeakable tragedy, but Alec Baldwin committed no crime,” Mr Spiro told the court.
“He was an actor acting, playing the role of Harlan Rust.”
He said Mr Baldwin was let down by those responsible for overall safety on set.
“Those people failed in their duties. But Alec Baldwin committed no crime. The most critical issue in this case is how a real bullet got on a movie set.
“The evidence will show that real bullets are never supposed to be on movie sets. Movie sets use dummies and blanks. Movie sets use dummies — fake, inert bullets that look like real bullets.”
On October 21, 2021, Hutchins was killed when a reproduction 1873 Single Action Army revolver in Mr Baldwin’s possession fired a live round. Ms Hutchins was 42.
In a police interview on the day of the shooting, Mr Baldwin said the gun just “went off,” later saying in an ABC America interview he did not pull the trigger.
The incident was Hollywood’s first on-set fatal shooting in nearly 30 years.
In 1993 on the set of The Crow, American actor and martial arts expert Brandon Lee, 28, was accidentally shot and killed with a gun that was intended to fire blanks.
Mr Baldwin, who was in the sitcom 30 Rock and portrayed Donald Trump on Saturday Night Live, could face up to 18 months in prison.
ABC/Wires