Prosecutor In Alec Baldwin ‘Rust’ Shooting Trial Chides Actor: ‘Violated The Cardinal Rules…’

Hollywood star Alec Baldwin’s involuntary manslaughter kicked off in Santa Fe, New Mexico on Wednesday with opening statements.

Prosecutors were quick to hammer into Baldwin for the 2021 shooting on the set of his movie Rust. This shooting claimed the life of the cinematographer Halyna Hutchins. It also wounded Rust director Joel Souza.

Prosecutor Accuses Baldwin Of ‘Reckless Behavior’

Prosecutor Erlinda Johnson called out Baldwin, 66, for his “reckless behavior” on the set of Rust. She argued that by pointing a gun at a person and pulling the trigger, Baldwin broke the “cardinal rules of firearm safety.”

“When someone plays make-believe with a real gun in a real-life workplace, and while playing make-believe with that gun violates the cardinal rules of firearm safety, people’s lives are endangered and someone could be killed,” she told jurors.

“The evidence will show that someone who played make-believe with a real gun and violated the cardinal rules of firearm safety is the defendant, Alexander Baldwin,” she added.

Related: Judge Makes Huge Ruling In Alec Baldwin Case

Prosecutor Claims Gun Was In ‘Perfect Order’

Johnson went on to say that contrary to what Baldwin has claimed, the firearm on the film set was in “perfect order” and did not malfunction.

“After that shooting, the defendant began to claim he didn’t pull the trigger,” she continued, according to The New York Post. “The evidence will show that’s not possible.”

Johnson also claimed that Baldwin had insisted on working with the biggest gun possible. She argued that this was how he ended up with a real gun, rather than a prop gun.

“It’s not a toy,” she said.

Johnson later told the jury that Baldwin didn’t do a safety check with Rust armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed. According to the prosecutor, he didn’t do this because “he didn’t want to offend her.”

“One of the main problems that afternoon is that the defendant didn’t do a gun safety check with that inexperienced armorer,” she said. “He pointed the gun at another human being, cocked the gun and pulled that trigger in reckless disregard for Ms. Hutchins safety.”

Related: ‘Rust’ Armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed Learns Her Fate As She’s Sentenced

Baldwin’s Defense Responds

Baldwin’s legal team later fired back by claiming that Baldwin is innocent.

“This was an unspeakable tragedy. [But] Alec Baldwin committed no crime. He was an actor, acting,” said defense attorney Alex Spiro. “These ‘cardinal rules’ are not cardinal rules on a movie set.”

Spiro placed the blame for Hutchins’ death on Gutierrez-Reed and with assistant director David Halls. They each handled the gun and were supposed to check it before it was given to Baldwin.

“Those people failed in their duties, but Alec Baldwin committed no crime,” Spiro said.

“Nobody had any idea that this venomous toxic element had been inserted into this magic they were creating,” he continued. “But it did, it entered that place. It killed an amazing person, it wounded another and it changed lives forever.”

Baldwin has pleaded to a felony charge of involuntary manslaughter in the October of 2021 death of 42 year-old cinematographer Halyna Hutchins. If convicted, he is facing up to 18 months in prison.