Alec Baldwin is on trial for the death of a cameraman. Here are the most important things you should know

Nearly three years after cinematographer Halyna Hutchins was shot and killed on the set of the movie “Rust” in New Mexico, Alec Baldwin is on trial for her death. Here are the most important things you should know.

What is Alec Baldwin accused of?

The actor will enter a New Mexico courtroom for the first time since the shooting on October 21, 2021. He is charged with manslaughter. If a jury unanimously convicts him, he could face 18 months in prison.

Baldwin, the western’s star and co-producer, was pointing a revolver at Hutchins during a rehearsal in a small church on the film’s Bonanza Creek Ranch set when the shot went off, killing her and wounding director Joel Souza. Baldwin said he pulled back the hammer – but not the trigger – and the gun went off.

Two main themes will be in the foreground, one large and one small: the chaotic atmosphere of the film set and the details of the classic Italian-made revolver with which Baldwin aimed at Hutchins.

It was never officially determined who brought the live ammunition that killed Hutchins to the set. Prosecutors in the previous trial of “Rust” gunsmith Hannah Gutierrez-Reed claimed she was responsible. She was convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to the same 18-month prison term that Baldwin faces.

What the jury must decide

The prosecution has two alternative standards of proof for the charge. One is based on the negligent use of a firearm. The other is to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Baldwin acted with complete disregard or indifference for the safety of others.

Despite the legal and technical complexity of the case, the twelve Santa Fe County citizens who make up the jury must reach a verdict on only one count – guilty or not guilty.

How long is the trial against Alec Baldwin expected to last?

The trial in New Mexico’s First Judicial District Court – about 20 miles northeast of the movie set and filming location – is scheduled to last nine days, and Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer insists she will keep the attorneys on task and on schedule. Jury selection begins Tuesday, opening arguments are expected Wednesday, and the trial is expected to end the following Friday. Once jurors receive the case, however, they can deliberate as long as they need.

Why is Alec Baldwin famous?

Baldwin, 66, became a major movie star in the late 1980s and early 1990s through films such as “Beetlejuice” and “The Hunt for Red October” and has been a household name ever since, playing memorable supporting roles in films such as 2003’s “The Cooler,” for which he received an Oscar nomination. Comedy dominated his later career, and he won two Emmys for his role as network executive Jack Donaghy on six seasons of “30 Rock” and a third for his role as Donald Trump on “Saturday Night Live.”

He also played the role of an outsized public figure, a valued talk show guest, a sought-after liberal and, at times, a man who could not control his outbursts of anger, which caused him public embarrassment and led to a previous brush with the law that was far less threatening than the current one.

Baldwin is the eldest of six children – five of whom are actors – from Massapequa, New York, and has spent most of his adult life in New York City. He has one adult daughter, Ireland Baldwin, with his first wife, Kim Basinger, and seven young children with his second wife, Hilaria Baldwin.

Alec Baldwin’s defense

Baldwin is bringing with him an elite team of lawyers, mostly based in New York, many of whom are Harvard law graduates and come from the firm Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan. Alex Spiro, a 41-year-old criminal defense attorney who has represented Elon Musk, Megan Thee Stallion and other prominent figures and is one of the most sought-after lawyers in the country, will intensively cross-examine the state’s witnesses.

The defense will try to prove that it is not an actor’s job to ensure that his gun is not fired with real ammunition, a position strongly supported by Baldwin’s union, the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists.

Baldwin said in an interview with ABC News and indicated in interviews with authorities that he never pulled the trigger of the revolver.

His lawyers will also attack the evidence related to the firearm, arguing that the severe damage done to the revolver during an FBI test amounted to destruction of evidence and left the defense with no chance to examine it.

Prosecution firearms experts who testified in the Gutierrez-Reed trial are returning to the witness stand, despite Baldwin’s objections, to testify about his handling of the revolver and whether the weapon functioned properly.

And they could question witnesses about whether Hutchins received appropriate medical treatment between the shooting and the pronouncement of her death at the hospital.

The prosecution team

Santa Fe County District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies appointed Kari Morrissey as special prosecutor in the Baldwin case in early 2023 after her predecessor resigned due to conflicts of interest. Morrissey promptly dismissed the charges against Baldwin, but had them revived by a grand jury in January of this year. Both moves were prompted by further review of the evidence, she said.

Morrissey earned his law degree from the University of New Mexico and practiced law in Albuquerque for more than 20 years. New Mexico criminal defense attorney Erlinda Johnson joined Morrissey’s team in April.

The process could lead to culture shock among legal teams, as heated hearings and filings have already shown.

Morrissey and Spiro in particular have often clashed – “I’m not going to sit here and be accused of being a liar!” she said at a hearing in May, for example. She will probably do the same this time and create drama during the proceedings.

Prosecutors will try to convince jurors that Baldwin, as a producer and key person on the set, brought recklessness to the production and, as an actor, was negligent in handling his gun.

Who will testify in the trial of Alec Baldwin?

The crew members inside the small church building who witnessed Hutchins’ murder will give the trial’s key testimony. They include director Joel Souza, who was himself struck and injured by the bullet from Baldwin’s gun, and assistant director David Halls, the film’s assistant director who some believe was responsible for the shooting but who pleaded not guilty to negligent handling of the firearm.

Zac Sneesby, a crew member who held a boom microphone during the rehearsal, will testify that he saw Baldwin pull the gun’s trigger, prosecutors said in court documents, making him perhaps the most important witness of all.

The prosecution could also call Gutierrez-Reed to the witness stand, but Marlowe Sommer declined an immunity agreement that was offered to her.

The jury will hear testimony from firearms experts who claim that although the revolver worked perfectly, it could not have fired without pulling the trigger.

And Baldwin himself may testify in his defense, but he doesn’t have to. His lawyers haven’t said what he will do.

Where the shooting took place in “Rust”

Santa Fe, the capital of New Mexico, an arts mecca of 89,000 residents and a tourist destination for its historic southwestern beauty, is no small town. And the modern downtown judicial complex is anything but a county courthouse. But the location is still a far cry from the coastal municipal courts where the trials of celebrities Bill Cosby, OJ Simpson, Harvey Weinstein and Donald Trump took place.

The trial could create unusual scenes. Dozens of national media representatives will vie for seats in the Santa Fe courtroom and another courtroom, and cameras will be posted around the courthouse to track the arrivals and departures of the defendants.

And the public can watch. The trial will be streamed and broadcast by several channels, including Court TV.

Who is Halyna Hutchins?

Hutchins, who was 42 when she died, was an aspiring cinematographer and mother of a young son when she was killed. She grew up on a remote Soviet military base and worked on documentaries in Eastern Europe before studying film in Los Angeles and launching a promising career as a filmmaker.