Defense attorneys for American actor Alec Baldwin hinted on the second day of the star's involuntary manslaughter trial related to a filming incident on the western film "Rust" that the legal system did not delve deeply into investigating the causes of the accident, instead opting to focus charges against Baldwin. The film's shoot, occurring at a ranch in New Mexico, was marred by tragedy on October 21, 2021, when Baldwin discharged a firearm that was supposed to contain blank ammunition, but live rounds were fired. The shooting resulted in the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and the injury of director Joel Souza.
Baldwin's defense attorney, Alex Spiro, sought to convince the jurors that the police did not sufficiently investigate to determine the fundamental cause of the tragedy, as they failed to find out how live ammunition made it to the "Rust" set, despite the fact that the presence of live rounds on a film set is strictly prohibited. The attorney questioned police technical expert Marissa Pobel, asking, "Isn't it true that you wanted to wrap this up so that prosecutors could focus on Alec Baldwin?" To which Pobel answered "No," during a tense courtroom cross-examination. She confirmed initially that police thoroughly opened "every box" of ammunition at the crime scene and at the facility responsible for supplying weapons for the film.
However, the expert admitted, under pressure from the attorney's questioning, that the search was of "reasonable" quality. Spiro remarked, "Instead of trying to find the source of the fatal bullet, they focused on Baldwin." In addition to the bullet that killed Hutchins, a talented 42-year-old Ukrainian-born cinematographer, more live ammunition was found on set. The expert stated that these live rounds were located in the prop cart and in the actors' Alec Baldwin and Jensen Ackles' ammunition belts.
She clarified that a range of evidence indicated that Hannah Gutierrez Reed, the armorer for the film, had brought these rounds to the set, though this was not clearly proven. The armorer was sentenced in April to 18 months in prison for involuntary manslaughter, which is the maximum penalty Baldwin (66 years old) also faces.
The star observed the trial proceedings on Thursday with intense focus. It remained unclear whether Baldwin intends to testify during the trial, expected to run until July 19.
Did Baldwin Pull the Trigger? Baldwin has repeatedly asserted that the person who handed him the gun assured him it was safe, denying that he pulled the trigger. The prosecution labeled his account as "ridiculous," accusing him of behaving recklessly on set and neglecting basic safety protocols.
On Thursday, prosecutor Eirinda Ocampo Johnson summoned the Italian maker of this version of the antique revolver, Alessandro Pietta. The judge posed the question to Pietta whether "the only way to operate this gun is to pull the trigger?" He responded, "That is the way it should be done." The prosecutor further asked, "Is there any other way?" and Pietta firmly replied, "No."
A technical expertise report from the FBI concluded that the gun could only be operated by pulling the trigger. However, the defense team contested this conclusion because federal agents damaged certain parts of the weapon during testing intended to explore the accidental discharge.
