Alec Baldwin’s defense team’s efforts to have his trial overturned have been fruitless, with the American actor set to go on trial Tuesday on charges of involuntary manslaughter in the shooting death of the cinematographer on the film “Rust.”
The trial is expected to last about ten days in a court in Santa Fe, New Mexico, in the southwestern United States, in a shooting case dating back to October 2021, in which the 66-year-old actor faces the risk of 18 months in prison.
The shooting of the Western movie “Rust” on a ranch in the US state of New Mexico witnessed a tragedy on October 21, 2021, when Baldwin activated a gun that was supposed to contain blank bullets, but live ammunition was fired from the gun, killing photographer Halyna Hutchins (42 years old) and injuring director Joel Souza.
This rare incident shocked Hollywood, and many calls were made to ban the use of firearms on filming locations.
Last April, Hannah Gutierrez Reed, the film’s weapons supervisor, was sentenced to 18 months in prison, a conviction she appealed.
Hannah Gutierrez Reid was found to have loaded the bullets into the gun used by Alec Baldwin during filming, and prosecutors have criticised her for gross negligence that led to “continued safety failures” on the set.
The inexperienced young woman left the weapons unattended and did not check that the blanks were indeed fake, ignoring film industry protocols.
But prosecutors have not been able to determine how live ammunition, which is prohibited in principle, got onto the set. Baldwin is accused of misconduct during filming.
“Baldwin’s pressure on the crew on set put the crew’s safety at risk on multiple occasions,” prosecutors said in court documents, noting that the actor “was constantly yelling” at everyone and wanted to finish filming quickly.
Baldwin is also a producer of the low-budget film, but he is only being pursued as an actor in this case.
Baldwin, who was handed the weapon by the deputy chief of weapons and told it was safe, repeatedly insisted that he did not pull the trigger.
The prosecution considered these statements “ridiculous at first glance,” because an FBI expert concluded that the weapon could only be operated by pulling the trigger.
The prosecution said the actor “blatantly lied about his behaviour” on the set, and changed his story to avoid any liability.
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