“Rust” movie star Alec Baldwin has long maintained that he did not pull the trigger of his Colt .45 when the gun discharged on October 21, 2021, killing the film's director of photography, who was standing by. about four feet away.
“I would never point a gun at anyone and pull the trigger,” Baldwin told host George Stephanopoulos during an ABC News interview less than two months after the tragedy.
But New Mexico special prosecutors appear determined to prove that the actor-producer pulled the trigger that day and acted recklessly during the filming of the low-budget western near Santa Fe, leading to the death of the director. photography Halyna Hutchins.
Special prosecutors Kari Morrissey and Erlinda O. Johnson this week previewed the evidence they intend to present at the July trial. In a court filing Monday, Morrissey and Johnson said they should be allowed to show jurors several videos and other photographic evidence showing Baldwin acting carelessly, including an image showing his finger on the trigger as he prepared for scenes. .
The 66-year-old actor was indicted by a Santa Fe grand jury in January on a charge of involuntary manslaughter. Baldwin, who did not know the gun contained live ammunition, pleaded not guilty. If he is convicted, he faces up to 18 months in prison.
Baldwin's attorneys declined to comment on the latest court filings.
Morrissey and Johnson's filing alleged that Baldwin did not take gun safety seriously.
During his only gun training session provided by the film's gunsmith before filming began, Baldwin “engaged in revolver antics” and “became distracted by texting/confronting family members and making videos for the enjoyment of his family,” prosecutors wrote.
Baldwin, one of the film's producers, contributed to the unsafe conditions by taking control of the set and ordering crew members to work faster, prosecutors wrote.
“It rushed the gunsmith to reload and the crew members to work at a faster pace,” Morrissey and Johnson wrote in the document. She once “used his gun as a pointer to direct crew members.”
In January, grand juries determined there was sufficient evidence that Baldwin acted negligently by pointing a loaded gun at Hutchins without first checking to see if there was ammunition in the gun. The film's director, Joel Souza, was also injured in the shooting but recovered.
Last month, Baldwin's attorneys argued that the criminal charges should be dismissed.
“The state has sought to convict and imprison Baldwin for an accident caused by the mistakes of others,” Baldwin's attorney, Luke Nikas, wrote in a motion to dismiss the indictment. He and his co-counsel, Alex Spiro, have argued that prosecutors were determined to secure a conviction for the prominent actor and producer at all costs.
But New Mexico First Judicial District Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer denied his motion, clearing the way for Baldwin's trial, which is scheduled to begin July 9 with jury selection and is expected to last eight days. .
The two sides have been arguing over whether the gunsmith, Hannah Gutierrez, should be called as a witness. In March, a different jury convicted her of involuntary manslaughter. Marlowe Sommer sentenced Gutierrez to 18 months in a New Mexico women's prison.
Prosecutors want Gutierrez to testify about Baldwin's alleged conduct with his gun on set.
Set in Kansas in the 1880s, the film “Rust” centers on a 13-year-old boy who goes on the run with his outlaw grandfather (played by Baldwin) after being sentenced to death for the accidental murder of a local rancher. Baldwin co-wrote the film with Souza.
The actors union SAG-AFTRA and Baldwin's legal team have argued that Baldwin should not be charged in Hutchins' death. The handling and safety of weapons is not the responsibility of the actor, but of the gunsmith, they have said.
Among the evidence Morrissey intends to present at Baldwin's trial:
“Minutes before the 911 call was made reporting the shooting of Mr. Souza and Ms. Hutchins, Mr. Baldwin was photographed…handling his prop gun,” Morrissey wrote. “He appears to have his finger inside the trigger guard and his thumb on the hammer.”
That same morning, script supervisor Mamie Mitchell “took cell phone video of Mr. Baldwin in which he appears to cock the gun and possibly pull the trigger,” Morrissey wrote.
A video taken on the set a couple of hours before the shooting shows that “Mr. Baldwin is asked to face the camera, draw the gun from him, and point it in the direction of “camera left.” Mr. Baldwin is not instructed to cock the gun, but he does so even though he was not asked to do so,” Morrissey wrote.
Baldwin “engaged in rough play with the revolver while making videos during his firearms training while using blanks,” according to Morrissey's filing.
He “displayed erratic and aggressive behavior during the filming of Rust that created potential safety concerns.” [and] “He displayed reckless behavior in connection with the use of a firearm, such as aiming and firing a blank round at a crew member while using that crew member as a line of siege as his perceived target,” he wrote. .
