Alec Baldwin's trial for involuntary manslaughter in New Mexico over the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins is officially underway, and the actor was confronted with footage of Halyna's final moments.
It has been almost three years since the actor, 66, fatally shot the late cinematographer and injured his director Joel Souza on the set of Rust in New Mexico on October 21, 2021, when he discharged a live round from a revolver he was using as a prop. He has pleaded not guilty.
In March, on-set armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, who put the live round into the gun, was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter. She is currently serving 18 months in prison, the maximum sentence, which now the 30 Rock alum is facing as well.
Following jury selection earlier in the week, opening statements officially began on Wednesday; Alec's wife Hilaria Baldwin, with whom he shares seven kids, and his brother Stephen Baldwin, whose daughter is Hailey Bieber, were in attendance.
Alec watches Haylna's final moments
Police body camera footage was played in the trial's opening day, with paramedics hurt telling the cinematographer: "Deep breath, Halyna. Deep breath."
Jeff could be heard screaming in pain off-camera as Halyna was seen moving her head in response to the paramedics. She died later that same day.
People reported that "several jurors grimaced while others took notes," and Alec "kept a neutral expression as he watched".
The footage came from the camera of Nicholas LaFleur, an officer at the Santa Fe Police Department who was working for Santa Fe Sheriff’s Department at the time in 2021. He also took to the stand.
Hilaria Baldwin comforts Alec
During a break Alec spoke to his brother Stephen, and Hilaria leaned in to whisper something to her husband, covering their mouths to hide what she was saying.
As she pulled back, Hilaria caressed his cheek.
The Prosecutor's Opening Statement
Prrosecutor Erlinda O. Johnson began her opening statement introducing the jury and audience to the movie, and calling Alec "reckless".
She said: "While it was a movie set, it was a real life workplace for many people," before noting: "But you will hear, this workplace was on a tight budget.
"You will learn that some of the people who were hired to work at this workplace were very inexperienced, and one of those, was the armorer, a very young woman named Hannah Gutierrez-Reed. You will hear testimony from crew members who worked on the set, who will tell you that to them, Ms. Gutierrez's inexperience was obvious."
She further said that like in "many workplaces," there are people who "act in a reckless manner, and place other individuals in danger, and act without due regard for the safety of others," before pointing to Alec, and emphasizing: "That, you will hear, was the defendant, Alexander Baldwin, the lead actor on this film."
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Beginning to introduce some of her evidence against Alec, she claimed that prior to his arrival to set several days after production started in early October, she claimed he "requested to be assigned the biggest gun available."
The gun in question was a replica of an 1873 single-action revolver manufactured in Italy.
She further claimed that Alec allegedly failed to do a safety check with the armorer prior to any time he handled the gun, and explained: "You'll hear that the reason he didn't do a safety check, is because he didn't want to offend her."
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"At the end of this case ladies and gentleman, you are going to conclude, and be convinced beyond reasonable doubt, that on October 21, 2021, that gun the defendant had asked to be assigned, worked perfectly fine, as it was designed, and that the fatal, one of the main problems that afternoon […] was that the the defendant didn't do a safety check with that inexperienced armorer. He pointed the gun at another human being, cocked the hammer, and pulled that trigger, in reckless disregard for Ms. Hutchins' safety."
Opening Statement From Alec's Attorney
Alec is being represented by Alex Spiro, who in his own opening statement first declared: "This was an unspeakable tragedy, but Alec Baldwin committed no crime. He was an actor, acting, playing the role of Harland Rust."
"An actor playing a character can act in ways that are lethal, that just aren't lethal on a movie set. These cardinal rules, they're not cardinal rules on a movie set, and I don't have to tell you much more about this because you've all seen gunfights in movies, and the reason that can happen, is because safety is ensured before the actor."
He maintained that while there were people on set tasked with keeping the crew safe, and those people "failed in those duties," he emphasized: "Alec Baldwin committed no crime."
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The attorney went on to point out the difference between real bullets, which he specified belong nowhere near a set, prop bullets, as well as blanks, to recreate gunfire, and warned about the potential misconception of videos in evidence in which Alec is using said blanks.
"You will hear no evidence, not one word, that Alec Baldwin had anything to do with that real bullet being brought on to that set," he continued, pointing out that the "critical" issue at hand is why a real bullet was brought to set in the first place.
He lastly warned against evidence only meant to "tarnish" perception of Alec, such as his alleged wishes for a large gun, and placed all responsibility on the armorer, Hannah, and first assistant director Dave Halls, who previously admitted he failed to detect the live bullet.