‘Rust’ trial: Prosecutor says Alec Baldwin “violated the cardinal rules of firearm safety”
On the first day of Alec Baldwin‘s involuntary manslaughter trial in New Mexico over the death of Halyna Hutchins, the prosecutor claimed the actor “violated the cardinal rules of firearm safety”.
The shooting occurred on October 21st, 2021, while Baldwin was handling a prop gun on the set of the movie Rust, in which he was starring and co-producing. The actor has been charged with involuntary manslaughter, a crime that involves killing another person without any form of malice or intent but in breach of the law.
Importantly, the charge doesn’t concern whether the killing of Hutchins was an accident, which has already been established. Instead, it explores whether the actor caused Hutchins’ death through illegal malpractice despite the fact that he didn’t mean any harm towards her.
Baldwin’s trial follows Rust’s weapons armourer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed being sentenced to 18 months in prison earlier this year after being found guilty of involuntary manslaughter.
The 30 Rock star’s trial began on July 9th when a jury was selected ahead of opening statements by the prosecution and defence on July 10th.
In prosecutor Erlinda Ocampo Johnson’s opening statement, she alleged Baldwin “violated the cardinal rules of firearm safety” while working on the movie. Johnson continued: “That’s what this case is about. It’s simple and straightforward. The evidence will show that someone who played make-believe with a real gun and violated the cardinal rules of firearm safety is the defendant – Alexander Baldwin.”
Following Johnson’s message to the court, Baldwin’s lawyer, Alex Spiro, denied the allegations brought forward against his client, stating, “These cardinal rules [the prosecution mentioned] are not cardinal rules on a movie set.”
Spiro continued: “Alec Baldwin committed no crime. The most critical issue in this case is how a real bullet got in a movie set.”
Furthermore, Spiro made sure to define the term ‘cold gun ‘ which he said was pivotal to this case. The legal official claims this was yelled at Baldwin before he fired the weapon, and said it means “the gun is cold. No one need worry. But even that requires a little more explanation. Cold gun doesn’t mean no live bullets. There are for sure no live bullets on movie sets. Cold means you don’t even have the fake blank poof. It means it’s empty … can do no harm.”
If Baldwin is found guilty of involuntary manslaughter, he could face a maximum of eight months in prison. The trial is set to last between eight and ten days. Baldwin is expected to plead not guilty.
This is a developing story.
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