He went rogue. That's what the prosecution is alleging as the trial of Alec Baldwin gets underway in the deadly shooting on the set of
Rust back in 2021. The shooting took the life of cinematographer Halyna Hutchens and injured assistant director Joel Souza, raising questions surrounding the safety on the set of the low-budget western. The tragic accident occurred during preparation for a scene in which Baldwin was supposed to draw his gun in a church, but not actually fire it. Unfortunately, the gun had somehow been loaded with a live round, as opposed to the dummy round that was supposed to be in it, and wasn't properly checked before being brought to set. Baldwin claims that he never pulled the trigger - though prosecutors say that's not possible. The actor was ultimately charged with involuntary manslaughter, and his trial kicked off today in a New Mexico courtroom. And in their opening statements, prosecutors painted a picture of an actor who often "did his own thing" and disregarded safety protocols, not only being careless with the gun on set but failing to properly check it to make sure that it was safe before pointing it at others. And they say that after the shooting, the gun was tested by the FBI, who found it was impossible for the gun to have gone off without Baldwin pulling the trigger:
"After the shooting, the defendant began to claim that he didn't pull the trigger. The evidence will show, ladies and gentleman, that that's not possible. You will hear from [the maker of the gun] who will tell you that gun will not discharge without a pull of the trigger. You will hear from firearms experts who will tell you that gun will not discharge without a pull of the trigger." Prosecutors say that the gun was tested by a firearms examiner, who didn't find any defects to the gun, and tested the hammer of the gun in all cocking positions and found that it wouldn't fire without the trigger being pulled. The gun was also reportedly test-fired 12 times without issue. Defense attorneys, meanwhile, seem to be placing the blame on armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed and assistant director David Halls, claiming that Baldwin's job was to act and their job was to ensure that the gun was safe.
"On a movie set, safety has to occur before the gun is placed in the actor's hands... The actor's job is to act, to rehearse, to choreograph his moves, to memorize his lines. He's Harlan Rust, he's an outlaw running for his life...That's why the gun has to be safe before it gets into the actor's hands. His mind is somewhere else, in the being of another, a century away, an outlaw. He must be able to take that weapon and use it as the person he's acting would. To wave it, to point it, to pull the trigger like actors do, in ways that would be lethal in the real world but are not lethal on a movie set." I mean, maybe you shouldn't say "pull the trigger" when his defense is at least partly that he DIDN'T pull the trigger... Gutierrez-Reed, the armorer on the set, was convicted in March of involuntary manslaughter and sentenced to 18 months in prison. And during her trial, videos were released from the set showing Baldwin shooting blanks with the prop gun days before the fatal incident, even shooting after someone yells "cut." He is also seen pointing the gun around, and even directly at the camera while he barks out orders on set. At one point you can hear Gutierrez-Reed tell others on the set to get out of the line of fire, even though Baldwin should not be pointing the gun at people:
"In the path of the gun, can you please move?" While Gutierrez-Reed was heard urging the crew to move out of its path, a firearms expert who testified shared his concern for the safety protocols and how strictly they were being enforced and that Baldwin's behavior should have been immediately corrected.
"Once you take on the responsibility of safety for another person, you take on a responsibility of making sure you do what is necessary...even if it's inconvenient." https://twitter.com/ABCWorldNews/status/1763413855743422790?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1763413855743422790%7Ctwgr%5E62d4b2aceed778a88803f4c666a0d940e8d3205b%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.whiskeyriff.com%2F2024%2F03%2F01%2Fnewly-released-video-shows-alec-baldwin-recklessly-waving-gun-firing-after-cut-was-yelled-on-the-set-of-rust%2F It's safe to say that the evidence in this case will be largely the same as what was presented during Gutierrez-Reed's trial, though we'll have to see if any further evidence comes out about whether Baldwin did indeed pull the trigger on that tragic day.
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