Alec Baldwin’s involuntary manslaughter trial continued on Thursday. The actor is on trial for the 2021 shooting on the set of his movie Rust. The shooting claimed the life of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and injured director Joel Souza.
On Thursday, the focus of the trial was on the gun and ammunition on the film set. Indeed, what came out was truly shocking.
Baldwin Trial Bombshell
Fox News reported that according to evidence shown in the Santa Fe, New Mexico trial today, Baldwin had a live round inside his gun belt while filming on the set of Rust. This came out after Baldwin’s attorney Alex Spiro showed the jury a photo of the gun belt. However, there seems to be some disagreement as to who exactly had the second live round.
TMZ reports that it was actually actor Jensen Ackles who had the live round in his gun belt.
Regardless of who actually had the live rounds, one of them found its way into Baldwin’s gun.
By our count, that would mean there were two live rounds in play – one in the gun (and in the firing chamber) and another in his gun belt. That, or the live round from Baldwin’s gun belt somehow made it’s way into the gun, and specifically into the firing chamber.
The question is, who put them there? And why? Was it merely a mistake to mix up live rounds with blanks?
Spiro’s strategy has been to place the blame for the shooting on two people other than Baldwin. The first is the Rust armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, who has already been convicted of involuntary manslaughter. The second is the assistant director David Halls, who told Baldwin that the gun was “cold.”
“It had been checked and double checked by those responsible for ensuring the gun was safe,” Spiro later said, according to The Post Gazette. “He did not tamper with it, he did not load it himself. He did not leave it unattended.”
Related: Prosecutor In Alec Baldwin ‘Rust’ Shooting Trial Chides Actor: ‘Violated The Cardinal Rules…’
Prosecutors Fire Back
Prosecutors, however, were not having any of it. Special prosecutor Erlinda Ocampo Johnson had said in her opening statement that Baldwin “requested to be assigned the biggest gun available.” She added that during his training session with it, he had “people filming him while he’s running around shooting this gun.”
Ocampo Johnson has since claimed that behind the scenes footage from the Rust set will show that Baldwin casually disregarded basic firearm safety.
“You will see him using this gun as a pointer to point at people, point at things,” Ocampo Johnson said. “You will see him cock the hammer when he is not supposed to cock the hammer, you will see him put his finger on the trigger when his finger’s not supposed to be on the trigger.”
Baldwin Trial Derails
The trial went off the rails at one point on Thursday when Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer called out the members of the media in attendance. She chided them for not cleaning up their cups and water bottles at Santa Fe’s 1st Judicial District Court of New Mexico.
“One more cup and everybody is not allowed to bring any liquids of any kind whatsoever,” the judge said. “My staff and our county people are not going to be picking up trash that you all could pick up. Okay? And that also means downstairs in the jury assembly room.”
“So one more cup, one more water — let’s just have some manners on picking up after ourselves, okay?” she later added. “Sorry I had to bring that up right now.”
Related: Judge Makes Huge Ruling In Alec Baldwin Case
Meanwhile, Baldwin has pleaded not guilty to a felony charge of involuntary manslaughter in the October of 2021 death of Hutchins, 42. If convicted, he is facing up to 18 months in prison.
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