‘Rust’ armorer’s trial gives Alec Baldwin’s team a window into how his own trial could unfold

SANTA FE, N.M. – The trial and conviction of a film armorer in reference to a deadly capturing at the set of the Western film “Rust” has given Alec Baldwin and his criminal team a ordinary window into how his own trial within the loss of life could unfold.

A New Mexico jury deliberated lower than 3 hours Wednesday sooner than convicting armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed of involuntary manslaughter within the loss of life of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins. She was once hastily taken into custody as she awaits sentencing, going through as much as 18 months in jail.

Baldwin figured prominently into testimony and shutting arguments over two weeks that highlighted his authority as a co-producer and the lead actor on “Rust.” Both the prosecution and protection in Gutierrez-Reed’s trial dissected video pictures of Baldwin sooner than the deadly capturing for clues about breakdowns in firearms protection.

Baldwin’s trial is scheduled for July and can contain the similar pass judgement on and prosecutors in addition to lots of the similar witnesses. Baldwin has maintained that he pulled again the gun’s hammer, however now not the cause, and the weapon fired, killing Hutchins and wounding director Joel Souza.

Having noticed Gutierrez-Reed’s trial play out can be a boon to Baldwin and his criminal team, stated Emily D. Baker, a criminal analyst and previous Los Angeles deputy district lawyer who wasn’t concerned within the case however adopted it intently.

“They’re in the incredible position of getting to watch this prosecutor in action, see how this judge works, and come in knowing exactly what these experts are going to say and how they present to the jury,” Baker said Wednesday. “I don’t think Baldwin’s going to want to deal in this case, and I think his legal team will tell him this is a very different case than the case against Hannah.”

A weapons expert for the prosecution in Gutierrez-Reed’s case gave strong testimony, Baker said. But the armorer expert was aligned with what Baldwin’s team has been saying all along — that it wasn’t his job to check the weapon, Baker said.

Expert witness and movie firearms consultant Bryan Carpenter testified that images showed Baldwin firing blanks toward a camera within a “no-go” zone at close range, flouting safety protocols as he commanded crew members to quickly reload his revolver, and waving a gun like a pointing stick after the close of one scene. Another clip captures the sound of Baldwin firing a gun after a director calls out, “Cut!”

Investigators haven’t found any video recordings of the shooting, which took place during a rehearsal inside a makeshift church on Oct. 21, 2021, on a movie set outside Santa Fe. But Gutierrez-Reed’s trial included previously undisclosed testimony from eyewitnesses to the shooting.

Those witnesses included Souza, who felt the shock of a bullet’s impact as he moved in for a view of the camera monitor — but never saw the gun that shot him.

A camera-dolly operator and the assistant director Dave Halls also gave visceral accounts of the revolver firing and the aftermath. Script writer Mamie Mitchell testified that the script didn’t call for Baldwin to point the gun.

“Alec Baldwin’s conduct and his lack of gun safety inside that church on that day is something that he’s going to have to answer for,” prosecutor Kari Morrissey said in her closing arguments against Gutierrez-Reed. “Not with you and not today. That’ll be with another jury, on another day.”

Morrissey and co-counsel Jason Lewis offered the case towards Baldwin to a grand jury in January and secured an indictment at the unmarried prison depend that gives them two pathways to prosecution. A up to date analysis of the gun gave them the chance to reboot the case after an preliminary involuntary manslaughter fee towards Baldwin was once disregarded.

That analysis by Forensic Science Services in Arizona concluded “the cause needed to be pulled or depressed sufficiently to liberate the absolutely cocked or retracted hammer of the proof revolver.”

The creator of an previous FBI file at the gun testified on the Gutierrez-Reed trial that the gun arrived with all security features in operating order, and that most effective manner the revolver would hearth with the hammer complete retracted was once to strike it with a mallet and wreck it.

Defense lawyers for Baldwin have proven no signal of compromise with particular prosecutors appointed by way of Santa Fe-area District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies, who’s operating for reelection and confronting a Democratic number one problem by way of a former DA in June.

A February fundraising message from Carmack-Altwies vowed justice for Hutchins and her circle of relatives “no matter who else is involved,” without naming Baldwin.

“No one avoids culpability due to fame, wealth, or connections in my jurisdiction,” she wrote.

During Gutierrez-Reed’s trial last week, one witness for the prosecution stated the obvious as a prosecutor asked, “Is Mr. Baldwin on trial today?”

“It appears that he is a bit, yes,” said Ross Addiego, a crew member who witnessed the fatal shooting at close range and has sued Baldwin in civil court.

The lawsuit is one in a series of legal actions, including wrongful death claims filed by members of Hutchins’ family, centered on accusations that the defendants were lax with safety standards. Baldwin and other defendants have disputed those allegations.

The filming of “Rust” moved to Montana after the shooting in New Mexico, under an agreement with Hutchins’ widower, Matthew Hutchins, that made him an executive producer.

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Dalton reported from Los Angeles.