American actor Alec Baldwin was accused during his trial on Wednesday of “violating basic rules” of safety, while his defense team described the shooting incident that claimed the life of the director of photography on the film “Rust”, Halyna Hutchins, as an unexpected “tragedy.”
The 66-year-old actor, who is on trial for manslaughter, faces up to 18 months in prison.
The filming 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 it, causing the accident in which director Joel Souza was also injured.
In front of the Santa Fe court, the capital of New Mexico, Attorney General Erlinda Ocampo Johnson presented the accused, at the beginning of the trial on Wednesday, as a star who neglected basic safety rules in handling weapons.
Alec Baldwin attended the session wearing a dark suit and tie, accompanied by his wife Hilaria and his brother Stephen, who is also an actor.
“There will be no witness or evidence at this trial that Alec knew or should have known that the gun contained a live round,” said his attorney, Alex Spiro, pointing to the responsibility of the film’s weapons director, Hannah Gutierrez-Reid, and assistant director David Hales.
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