Alec Baldwin’s involuntary manslaughter trial has revealed footage of Halyna Hutchins being treated after she was fatally shot on the set of the film Rust.
The 30 Rock actor, 66, is in court faced with charges of involuntary manslaughter after cinematographer Hutchins was fatally shot by a gun Baldwin was rehearsing with in October 2021.
In January 2023, Baldwin was also charged with involuntary manslaughter and pleaded not guilty, but this was dismissed without prejudice a few months later.
The charges were refiled a year later and at the time his legal team said they were ‘look[ing] forward to our day in court.’
That day has come, and footage shown in court shed light on what happened in the aftermath of the shooting.
Members of the gallery were said to look ‘visibly upset’ at the footage, as Baldwin also watched on.
The video showed medics rushing to help Hutchins before she was transferred to a stretcher and into the back of an ambulance.
Baldwin has always insisted he was unaware the gun was loaded, and that he did not pull the trigger. The film’s director Joel Souza, 51, was also injured in the incident.
The trial to assess whether Baldwin – who has since returned to complete the film with the filmmaker – is criminally liable for Hutchins’ death is set to last eight days,as the court first sat on July 10.
If convicted, the dad-of-seven could face up to 18 months in prison. While Baldwin claims he’s struggled to find work since Hutchin’s death, her family said they wanted to find out the truth of who was responsible.
The armourer on set, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, was convicted earlier this year of involuntary manslaughter after mistakenly mixing up dummy bullets being used for the film and live bullets belonging to her, which were found on around the set. The 26-year-old was sentenced to 18 months in prison – the same term Baldwin faces if convicted.
Court documents state Baldwin was handed the gun and told it was unloaded. While the defence argue it was not his job as an actor to check the weapon’s safety, prosecution say he was negligent in his handling of the gun by pointing it at Hutchins, who was shot in the chest area.
Special prosecutor Erlinda Johnson opened the case against the Hollywood star in Santa Fe, New Mexico, arguing Baldwin played ‘make-believe with a real gun’ and ‘violated the cardinal rules of firearms safety’ when Hutchins, a ‘vibrant 42-year-old rising star’, was fatally shot.
‘While it was a movie set, it was a real, live workplace for many people. But you will hear that this workplace was on a tight budget…and some of the people who were hired to work on this workplace were inexperienced,’ she continued, as per the BBC.
She also claimed Baldwin requested the ‘biggest gun available’ prior to arriving on set, and – contesting the actor’s claim he never pulled the trigger when the gun fired – argued that various tests by the FBI concluded the gun was in fine working order.
However, the gun was damaged during the final test, which examined the possibility of accidental discharge. Defence argued their inability to examine the weapon in its original condition due to the damage was ‘outrageous’ and required ‘dismissal’ of the charges against Baldwin.
Baldwin’s lawyer, Alex Spiro, argued that he ‘committed no crime’ and was simply ‘an actor acting’. He added that the rules for those holding firearms don’t apply to movie sets, and that those whose job it was to ensure firearm safety had failed.
‘Real bullets are never supposed to be on movie sets,’ Spiro said, also noting that the gun was double-checked.
‘Alec took the gun from those charged with its safety. He did not tamper with it. He did not load it himself. He did not leave it unattended,’ Spiro says. ‘It was an actor handling a prop… and the gun just went off.’
Police officer Nicholas Lefleur, who responded to the call, shared bodycam footage with the court of his arrival onto the scene showing some of Hutchin’s last moments.
Spiro asked Lefleur whether Baldwin – who was waiting patiently and respectfully on set as the homicide was being investigated – asked about Hutchins in the aftermath of the shooting, to why he replied, ‘Yes’.
‘Have you ever seen that in all your experience? Somebody commits a homicide, and everyone around the scene circling the person, shaking his hand and talking to him about what happened?’ Spiro asked, to which the Lefloeur replied: ‘No.’
The jury listened to a 911 call in which the caller asked for help because two people were shot ‘accidentally’, repeating the word.
Prosecutors then stressed that the charge – involuntary manslaughter – is not ‘intentional homicide’ so whether it is accidental or not isn’t the question.