Hollywood liberal Alec Baldwin appeared in a New Mexico court on Monday for a preliminary hearing ahead of his manslaughter trial for a fatal shooting on the set of his Western film Rust. Jury selection is scheduled to begin Tuesday, with the trial expected to last ten days.
Baldwin, 66, faces a single felony charge of involuntary manslaughter and could potentially serve up to 18 months in prison following the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins. The incident occurred in October 2021 during a rehearsal. Baldwin was practicing a maneuver with a revolver, which discharged, killing Hutchins and injuring director Joel Souza. Baldwin has pleaded not guilty, contending that the gun fired accidentally.
Prosecutors aim to present evidence that the firearm could not have fired without the trigger being pulled and that it was in proper working condition before the incident. Last week, Judge Sommer permitted firearms experts to testify regarding Baldwin’s handling of the revolver and its functionality.
In April, Hannah Guttierez-Reed, the armorer on the Rust set, was convicted of involuntary manslaughter for her role in Hutchins’s death and sentenced to 18 months in prison.
Following the shooting in 2021, the production of Rust resumed in Montana under an agreement with Hutchins’s widower, Matthew Hutchins, who became an executive producer. Despite completing filming, the movie has yet to be released to the public.