Actor Alec Baldwin had no way to know a live bullet could be in a movie set revolver and isn’t culpable for the fatal error, his lawyer said Wednesday in opening statements.
– Actor Alec Baldwin was not at fault for fatally shooting a staffer on a New Mexico movie set, his attorney argued in opening statements Wednesday.
Lawyer Alex Spiro told jurors that his client had no idea a live bullet had been inexplicably placed in the firearm — and blamed the film’s armorer for the accidental slaying.
“This was an unspeakable tragedy, but Alec Baldwin committed no crime”, Spiro said. “He was an actor acting, playing the role of Harlan Rust. An actor playing a character.”
The veteran thespian, who is facing an involuntary manslaughter charge, was holding the gun that went off, shooting and killing cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and wounding director Joel Souza on the set of “Rust” while filming in Santa Fe in 2021.
Prosecutors assert that Baldwin’s cavalier flouting of basic gun safety practices resulted in Hutchins’ death.
But Spiro said that a different set of rules apply to film sets, where individual roles and responsibilities are clearly delineated.
The attorney said armorer Hannah Gutierrez Reed was in charge of gun safety at the time, and that Baldwin had no reason to expect that his gun was loaded.
