‘Rust’ shooting juror: Charging Alec Baldwin was ‘pointless’

( NewsNation ) — A juror from Alec Baldwin’s involuntary manslaughter trial told NewsNation the charges were “pointless,” and said the majority of blame lies with the “Rust” movie set’s armorer.

During a rehearsal for the film “Rust,” Baldwin used a prop gun that was meant to contain dummy rounds. He allegedly pointed it at the camera and fired, killing cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and wounding director Joel Souza in 2021.

Family and friends described Hutchins as a “joyful soul,” and a “poignant and purposeful” storyteller.

“There’s rules that you follow in a workplace, and it was obviously not followed,” Marquez said. “So I definitely think that charging Alec was a little bit pointless and a little bit crazy to even assume that he intentionally or he actually meant to do that with negligence.”

Baldwin maintained he didn’t pull the trigger and said it fired by accident. A judge dismissed the case July 12 after defense attorneys argued that prosecutors withheld information about another person who brought ammunition to law enforcement after the trial of “Rust” armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed.

From the beginning, Marquez said she felt prosecutors didn’t have a strong case against Baldwin.

She looked at the body cam footage from the movie set and saw missteps and mistakes from others, but was skeptical that Baldwin was to blame.

According to Marquez, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, the person responsible for keeping track of weapons used in the movie, was most at fault. Baldwin was only doing his job, she said, though he did seem to handle the weapon poorly at times.

Guitierrez-Reed was convicted of involuntary manslaughter earlier this year and sentenced to 18 months in prison

Marquez went into the trial with an open mind, she said. During the three days of testimony and evidence that followed, however, she and other jurors determined there wasn’t enough evidence to convict Baldwin.

“I definitely think the bullets played a strong role,” she said. “And I know he didn’t bring those on set.”

The judge dismissed Baldwin’s case when the actors’ attorneys argued the prosecution withheld information — bullets that were never entered into evidence for the defense to examine.

Those in the courtroom watched as the judge and the attorneys gathered around a table to look at that evidence. Once the jury learned those details, the future of the trial felt uncertain, Marquez said.

“It didn’t make any sense why the defense had found out so late,” she said. “So after hearing that, and then seeing the prosecution and the defense argue, I knew that it was either going to last longer than the eight days it was set for or that it needed to be dismissed.”

Marquez praised the judge’s decision to drop the case, saying it’s crucial for both sides to follow the law and ensure a fair and impartial trial.

Movie industry and union rules have prohibited live ammunition on movie sets for decades. Prosecutors contended that Gutierrez-Reed unwittingly brought live rounds to the set and that she flouted basic weapon safety protocols.

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