Defense blames others on set for 'Rust' shooting

SANTA FE — The people responsible for ensuring the safety of firearms on the “Rust” movie set failed to do their jobs the day a gun went off in Alec Baldwin’s hand, fatally shooting the cinematographer, his attorney told jurors Wednesday.

Baldwin was an actor “in his role” as Old West gunslinger Harlan Rust, performing his job as he had done for decades, Baldwin’s attorney, Alex Spiro, said in opening statements.

Testimony began Wednesday in Baldwin’s trial on a felony charge of involuntary manslaughter in the shooting death of Halyna Hutchins on Oct. 21, 2021, on the “Rust” movie set near Santa Fe.

Prosecutors allege that Baldwin, 66, pointed a prop .45-caliber revolver at Hutchins, pulled back the hammer and pulled the trigger, firing a live round that killed Hutchins, 42.

“This was an unspeakable tragedy, but Alec Baldwin committed no crime,” Spiro said in opening statements.

“The evidence will show that on a movie set, safety has to occur before the gun is placed in the actor’s hands,” Spiro said. “The actor’s job is to act, to rehearse, to choreograph his moves, to memorize his lines. His mind is somewhere else in the being of another, a century away. He must be able to take that weapon and use it as the person he’s acting would.”

Baldwin, sitting at the defense table, removed his horn-rimmed glasses and listened intently as Spiro spoke to jurors, sometimes leaning forward and folding his hands.

Baldwin’s wife, Hilaria Baldwin, and brother, actor Stephen Baldwin, were seated in the gallery directly behind the defense table.

Testimony in the 1st Judicial District Court trial is expected to continue through July 19 before Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer.

The ordinary rules of gun handling don’t apply to actors on movie sets, Spiro said.

“I don’t have to tell you much more about this because you have all seen (movie) gunfights,” Spiro told jurors. “And the reason that can happen is because safety is ensured for the actor.”

On the “Rust” movie set, the armorer, Hannah Gutierrez Reed, and assistant director and safety supervisor had the job of ensuring gun safety, he said.

“On this movie set, there were people responsible for ensuring the safety of the set and the firearm,” Spiro said. “Those people failed in their duties.”

The day of the shooting, the armorer loaded the gun and the first-assistant director, David Halls, shouted “cold gun,” indicating it contained no live bullets or even blank rounds, which make a sound when fired.

“Cold guns can’t hurt people,” Spiro said. “It’s impossible — literally impossible — for a cold gun to hurt somebody.” Baldwin and others acted under the belief that the gun was harmless, he said.

Prosecutors said that the argument that movie sets are “make believe” doesn’t exonerate Baldwin’s handling of a firearm the day of the shooting.

“While it was a movie set, it was a real-life workplace for many people,” special prosecutor Erlinda Johnson said in opening statements.

Johnson began her opening by showing jurors a photograph of Hutchins posing in front of the church where she was fatally shot.

“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,” Johnson said in opening statements.

Johnson said jurors will view videos made in the days leading up to the shooting that show Baldwin recklessly handling a firearm.

“You will see him use this gun as a pointer to point at people,” Johnson said the videos will show. “You will see him cock back the hammer when he is not supposed to cock back the hammer. You will see him put his finger on the trigger when his finger is not supposed to be on the trigger.”

Johnson also said “Rust” was on a tight budget and that the armorer, Gutierrez Reed, was young and inexperienced.

Gutierrez Reed, 27, was convicted on March 6 of involuntary manslaughter in Hutchins’ death following a closely watched trial. Marlowe Sommer in April sentenced Gutierrez Reed to 18 months in prison.

Baldwin also faces 18 months in prison if convicted on the same charge.

“Each time (Baldwin) handled this firearm, he did not do a safety check with that inexperienced armorer,” Johnson said. “And you will hear that the reason he didn’t do a safety check is because he didn’t want to offend” Gutierrez Reed, she said.

Witnesses for the prosecution also began testimony Wednesday, much of it familiar from earlier testimony in the Gutierrez Reed trial.

Santa Fe Sheriff’s Office crime scene investigator Marissa Poppell testified that five live rounds, and a sixth spent shell casing, were collected from the “Rust” movie set.

One of those live rounds was found in a gun belt worn by Baldwin, Poppell said. They were among at least 1,000 rounds of ammunition found on the movie set.

Investigators sent the .45-caliber revolver used in the shooting to the FBI and requested a “drop test” to determine whether the gun would fire without pulling the trigger, Poppell said.

Investigators also found live rounds at an Albuquerque business, PDQ Arm and Props, which supplied guns and ammunition to the “Rust” production, she said.

The FBI determined that the gunpowder found in the live rounds collected from PDQ Arm and Props differed from the gunpowder found in the live rounds found on the “Rust” set.