Current:Home > ScamsAlec Baldwin’s involuntary manslaughter trial begins with jury selection -Elevate Capital Network
Alec Baldwin’s involuntary manslaughter trial begins with jury selection
SafeX Pro View
Date:2025-04-08 07:47:13
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Alec Baldwin’s trial in the shooting of a cinematographer is set to begin Tuesday with the selection of jurors who will be tasked with deciding whether the actor is guilty of involuntary manslaughter.
Getting chosen to serve in a trial of such a major star accused of such a major crime would be unusual even in Los Angeles or Baldwin’s hometown of New York. But it will be essentially an unheard-of experience for those who are picked as jurors in Santa Fe, New Mexico, though the state has increasingly become a hub of Hollywood production in recent years.
Baldwin, 66, could get up to 18 months in prison if jurors unanimously decide he committed the felony when a revolver he was pointing at cinematographer Halyna Hutchins went off, killing her and wounding director Joel Souza during a rehearsal for the Western film “Rust” in October 2021 at Bonanza Creek Ranch, some 18 miles (29 kilometers) from where the trial is being held.
Baldwin has said the gun fired accidentally after he followed instructions to point it toward Hutchins, who was behind the camera. Unaware the gun contained a live round, Baldwin said he pulled back the hammer — not the trigger — and it fired.
The star of “30 Rock” and “The Hunt for Red October” made his first appearance in the courtroom on Monday, when Judge Mary Marlowe Summer, in a significant victory for the defense, ruled at a pretrial hearing that Baldwin’s role as a co-producer on “Rust” isn’t relevant to the trial.
The judge has said that the special circumstances of a celebrity trial shouldn’t keep jury selection from moving quickly, and that opening statements should begin Wednesday.
“I’m not worried about being able to pick a jury in one day,” Marlowe Summer said. “I think we’re going to pick a jury by the afternoon.”
Special prosecutor Kari Morrissey, however, was dubious that Baldwin’s lawyers, with whom she has clashed in the run-up to the trial, would make that possible.
“It is my guess that with this group of defense attorneys, that’s not gonna happen,” Morrissey said at the hearing.
Baldwin attorney Alex Spiro replied, “I’ve never not picked a jury in one day. I can’t imagine that this would be the first time.”
Dozens of prospective jurors will be brought into the courtroom for questioning Tuesday morning. Cameras that will carry the rest of the proceedings will be turned off to protect their privacy. Jurors are expected to get the case after a nine-day trial.
Attorneys will be able to request they be dismissed for conflicts or other causes. The defense under state law can dismiss up to five jurors without giving a reason, the prosecution three. More challenges will be allowed when four expected alternates are chosen.
Before Marlowe Sommer’s ruling Monday, prosecutors had hoped to highlight Baldwin’s safety obligations on the set as co-producer to bolster an alternative theory of guilt beyond his alleged negligent use of a firearm. They aimed to link Baldwin’s behavior to “total disregard or indifference for the safety of others” under the involuntary manslaughter law.
But the prosecution managed other wins Monday. They successfully argued for the exclusion of summary findings from a state workplace safety investigation that placed much of the blame on the film’s assistant director, shifting fault away from Baldwin.
And the judge ruled that they could show graphic images from Hutchins’ autopsy, and from police lapel cameras during the treatment of her injuries.
___
Dalton reported from Los Angeles.
___ For more coverage of Alec Baldwin’s involuntary manslaughter trial, visit: https://apnews.com/hub/alec-baldwin
veryGood! (5249)
Related
- Euphoria's Hunter Schafer Says Ex Dominic Fike Cheated on Her Before Breakup
- VaLENTines: Start of Lent on Feb. 14 puts indulgence, abstinence in conflict for some
- Katy Perry reveals she is leaving American Idol after upcoming season
- Special counsel Robert Hur could testify in coming weeks on Biden documents probe as talks with House continue
- Illinois governor calls for resignation of sheriff whose deputy fatally shot Black woman in her home
- Record Super Bowl ratings suggest fans who talk about quitting NFL are mostly liars
- 'Will that be separate checks?' The merits of joint vs. separate bank accounts
- Ukrainian military says it sank a Russian landing ship in the Black Sea
- British swimmer Adam Peaty: There are worms in the food at Paris Olympic Village
- Gun violence killed them. Now, their voices will lobby Congress to do more using AI
Ranking
- Travis Hunter, the 2
- Black cemeteries are being 'erased.' How advocates are fighting to save them
- Ex-Detroit police chief James Craig drops Republican bid for open U.S. Senate seat in Michigan
- Chocolates, flowers and procrastination. For many Americans, Valentines Day is a last-minute affair
- $73.5M beach replenishment project starts in January at Jersey Shore
- Man with knife suspected of stabbing 2 people at training center is fatally shot by police
- Kelsea Ballerini Reveals Her and Chase Stokes’ Unexpected Valentine’s Day Plans
- Biden urges House to take up Ukraine and Israel aid package: Pass this bill immediately
Recommendation
A South Texas lawmaker’s 15
Snowiest day in 2 years brings selfies and snowmen to New York City’s Central Park
Chocolates, flowers and procrastination. For many Americans, Valentines Day is a last-minute affair
The CDC may be reconsidering its COVID isolation guidance
Eva Mendes Shares Message of Gratitude to Olympics for Keeping Her and Ryan Gosling's Kids Private
How The Bachelor's Serene Russell Embraces Her Natural Curls After Struggles With Beauty Standards
Snowiest day in 2 years brings selfies and snowmen to New York City’s Central Park
3 deputies arrested after making hoax phone calls about dead bodies, warrants say