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As the first week of Alec Baldwin’s involuntary manslaughter trial in New Mexico comes to a close, the actor’s defense is hoping to make a tricky argument stick with the jury.
The 30 Rock and Saturday Night Live star has claimed he did not pull the trigger on a gun that went off on the set of the film Rust, killing cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, but his lawyers argue that even if the actor did, he still wouldn’t be guilty because he had no reason to think he was using live rounds.
“On a movie set, you’re allowed to pull the trigger,” his attorney Alex Spiro said in opening statements. “Even if he intentionally pulled the trigger… that doesn’t make him guilty of homicide.”
“He did not know, or have any reason to know, that the gun was loaded with a live bullet,” he added. “That’s the key. That live bullet is the key. That is the lethal element.”
The lawyer also claimed the weapon had a “hair trigger” and that the owner’s manual suggests the gun can fire accidentally if loaded with a live primer.
In a 2021 interview with ABC News, the actor was adamant the gun went off on its own.
“The trigger wasn’t pulled. I didn’t pull the trigger,” he said, claiming, "Someone put a live bullet in a gun, a bullet that wasn’t even supposed to be on the property.”
Three years later, the prosecution in the case is seeking to make the case in the Santa Fe courtroom that Baldwin did fire the gun on the set of the Western film.
“The evidence will show… this gun functioned and worked just fine,” special prosecutor Erlinda Johnson said.
Prosecutors have also painted Baldwin as recklessly playing with weapons on set.
“You will see him using this gun as a pointer to point at people, point at things,” Johnson said during opening statements. “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.”
During testimony on Thursday, Alessandro Pietta, whose company manufactures the replica gun used in the film, said it’s not possible for the pistol to fire without an intentional trigger pull.
“This gun cannot fire without pulling the trigger because of the mechanics and design of the trigger was made to work in this way,” Pieta said, describing quality checks by US and Italian authorities on the weapon.
The case may hinge on which interpretation of the gun’s technical specifications prevails.
Spiro has argued that Baldwin wasn’t given the chance to test the pistol for evidence in its original form, due to damage sustained as the FBI tested the weapon.
Set armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed has already been convicted in the shooting and sentenced to 18 months in prison.
