The trial and conviction of a weapons supervisor for a fatal shooting on a movie set gave Alec Baldwin an unusual window into how his own case might unfold.
Hannah Gutierrez-Reed found guilty of manslaughter the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of Rust after less than three hours of deliberations by the jury.
He was quickly taken into custody while awaiting sentencing in New Mexico and faced up to 18 months in prison.
Alec Baldwin He was a prominent figure in depositions and closing arguments for two weeks, emphasizing his authority as the film’s co-producer and lead actor.
Both prosecution and defense attorneys at Gutierrez-Reed’s trial dissected video footage of Baldwin before the shooting to find clues about lapses in firearm safety.
The 65-year-old’s trial is scheduled for July and is scheduled to include the same judges and prosecutors, as well as many of the same witnesses.
He insisted that he pulled back the hammer on the gun but did not pull the trigger, and the gun went off, killing Hutchins and wounding director Joel Souza.
Emily D Baker, a legal analyst and former Los Angeles assistant district attorney who is not involved in the case but has followed it closely, said Baldwin’s legal team will hope to benefit from seeing how Gutierrez-Reed’s case turns out.
dress rehearsal
“They are in the incredible position of watching this prosecutor in action, seeing how the judge works, and knowing exactly what these experts are going to say and how they are going to present to the jury,” Ms. Baker said.
“I don’t think Baldwin will want to deal with this case and I think his legal team will tell him that this is a very different case than the one against Hannah.”
Ms. Baker said a weapons expert for the prosecution gave strong testimony in the Gutierrez-Reed case, but that was consistent with what Baldwin’s team had said all along, namely that it was not his job to control the gun.
Expert witness and firearms consultant Bryan Carpenter testified that the footage showed Baldwin firing blanks at close range into a camera inside a “no-go” zone, disregarding safety protocols as he ordered crew members to quickly reload his gun, and brandishing his gun like a gun. Cue stick after a scene closes.
In another clip, Baldwin heard the director yell “Cut!” After he shouts, he can be seen firing a gun.
Investigators found no video footage of the shooting, which occurred during a rehearsal at a makeshift church in October 2021.
But Gutierrez-Reed’s trial included previously unreleased testimony from eyewitnesses to the shooting.
Among them was Souza, who felt the shock of being struck by a bullet as he approached to see the camera monitor but never saw the gun that shot him.
Dave Halls, a camera carrier operator and assistant director, also gave visceral accounts of the gun firing and its aftermath.
Meanwhile, screenwriter Mamie Mitchell stated that the script did not require Baldwin to point the gun.
‘The trigger had to be pulled’
“Alec Baldwin will have to be held accountable for his behavior and the lack of gun safety in that church that day,” prosecutor Kari Morrissey said in her closing argument against Gutierrez-Reed.
“Not with you, not today. That will happen another day, with another jury.”
Morrissey and paralegal Jason Lewis presented the case against Baldwin to a grand jury in January, filing an indictment on a single count that gave them two avenues for prosecution.
A recent analysis of the gun gave them the opportunity to reopen the case after the initial manslaughter charge against Baldwin was dismissed.
That analysis, conducted by Forensic Science Services in Arizona, concluded that “the trigger must be pulled or depressed sufficiently to release the fully cocked or retracted hammer of the evidence gun.”
The author of an earlier FBI report on the gun testified in the Gutierrez-Reed case that the gun came with all safety features working and that the only way the gun could fire with the hammer fully retracted was to hit it with a mallet. and break it.
Baldwin’s defense attorneys have shown no signs of compromise with the special prosecutors appointed by Santa Fe-area District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies, who is running for re-election and faced a Democratic primary challenge from a former prosecutor in June.
‘No one can escape guilt’
Ms. Carmack-Altwies’ February fundraising message promised justice for Ms. Hutchins and her family “regardless of who else was involved,” without naming Baldwin.
“No one can avoid guilt because of fame, wealth, or connections within my jurisdiction,” he wrote.
During Gutierrez-Reed’s hearing last week, the prosecutor asked, “Is Mr. Baldwin at the hearing today?” asked a prosecution witness who stated the obvious.
“It looks like it’s a little bit like that, yeah,” said crew member Ross Addiego, who witnessed the fatal shooting at close range and sued Baldwin in civil court.
The case is one of a series of legal cases filed by members of Hutchins’ family, including wrongful death claims, focusing on accusations that the defendants were lax in their safety standards. Baldwin and the other defendants disputed these allegations.
Filming on Rust moved to Montana after filming in New Mexico under an agreement with Hutchins’ widow, Matthew Hutchins, that made him an executive producer.