Alec Baldwin ‘Rust’ trial live: Opening statements begin as wife Hilaria and brother Stephen join actor in court

Alex Spiro, one of Baldwin’s attorneys, is now speaking.

He tells the jurors that the fatal shooting of Hutchins was an “unspeakable tragedy but Alec Baldwin committed no crime.”

“You have to step back and remember what they were doing on a movie set. Movies and magic have always been closely associated… all over this country for many decades,” he said.

Spiro shifted attention to how a live bullet ever made its way to the Rust  movie set, insisting there was no evidence that Baldwin had anything to do with the bullet going into the gun.

“He was an actor, acting, playing the role of Harlan Rust,” he said. “An actor, playing a character, can act in ways that are lethal that just aren’t lethal on a movie set. These cardinal rules, they’re not cardinal rules on a movie set.”

Johnson tells the jury that they will see video footage during the trial of Baldwin using the gun on set.

“You’ll see the video footage of the multiple occasions during which the defendant used this firearm on the set, and each time he fired it, it was working just fine,” Johnson said.

“And in fact, you’ll hear evidence that the defendant himself admitted in December of 2021 that this gun didn’t have any mechanical problems.”

This comes after Baldwin stated that he did not pull the trigger the day Hutchins was shot.

Johnson also said the firearm was repeatedly tested by a forensic expert at the FBI, which determined that the gun had no defects and was in working order.

The prosecution told the jury that Baldwin routinely failed to do safety checks with armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed on the set of “Rust.”

Johnson said Baldwin was filmed during his required gun safety training “running around, shooting his gun.”

She also said he “didn’t want to offend” Gutierrez-Reed by doing the checks every time he was handed a gun.

“You will learn that one of the rounds in that revolver was a real round, and the evidence will show that Ms. Gutierrez then handed the gun to the defendant,” Johnson said.

“And what you will learn is that, once again, the defendant failed to do a gun safety check with this armorer.”

Prosecutor Johnson said Baldwin asked to be given the “biggest gun” available for the movie.

She told the jury during her opening that they would hear evidence that firearm was sold to the “Rust” set in “perfect” working order.

Gloria Allred, attorney for Halyna Hutchins’ parents and sister, speaks out ahead of court.

Special prosecutor Erlinda Johnson has started her opening statement.

“When someone plays make believe, with a real gun. 

And that person disregards the Cardinal rule of gun safety… People die.”

Johnson says the budget on “Rust” was tight and crew was inexperienced.

Stephen Baldwin, the actor brother of Alec Baldwin, sits behind him in court on Wednesday.

Opening statements are expected to start shortly.

Court has resumed for a second day in Alec Baldwin’s trial in Santa Fe. A jury was selected on Tuesday.

Baldwin is in court and opening statements will begin shortly.

The proceedings can be livestreamed here:

Prosecutors say they’ll present evidence that Baldwin went “off script” and failed to follow basic industry standards for firearms safety when he pointed the firearm at Hutchins on October 21, 2021.

“At the end of the day, the prosecutor’s main theory is that this was a gun involved, and Baldwin had a gun in his hand, and it doesn’t matter if it’s a film set or hunting safety class, you’re responsible for what comes out of the end of the barrel,” said John Day, a Santa Fe-based defense attorney and former prosecutor.

Testimony at trial will delve into shortcomings in a final safety check of the gun before Baldwin began rehearsing with it, as well as the mechanics of the weapon and whether it could have fired without a trigger pull. The live bullet that killed Hutchins also wounded director Joel Souza.

Prosecutors and defense attorneys selected 16 jurors — 11 women and five men — on Tuesday, seating a jury from a region with strong currents of gun ownership and safety informed by backcountry hunting.

Four of the jurors will be deemed alternates while the other 12 deliberate once they get the case.

The shooting death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, a 42-year-old rising star in her craft, nearly three years ago sent shock waves through the film industry and led to one felony charge against Baldwin that could result in up to 18 months in prison.

Baldwin attorney Alex Spiro probed prospective jurors on Tuesday for strong opinions about gun safety and asked whether a person must entirely take responsibility for whether a gun is loaded or may “rely on experts, does anybody have a problem with that?”

Most who answered said they always treat a gun as if it were loaded.