By Andrew Hay
SANTA FE, N.M. (Reuters) -Alec Baldwin’s manslaughter trial for the 2021 fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the movie set of Western “Rust” is set for July 10, a New Mexico judge ruled on Monday.
Hollywood has little recorded history of an actor being held criminally responsible for a shooting death during filming.
Hutchins died when the revolver Baldwin was holding fired a live round that also wounded director Joel Souza.
“Rust” armorer Hannah Gutierrez is currently standing trial for allegedly bringing the live round on set and failing to detect it. She told police she loaded it into Baldwin’s gun, mistaking it for a dummy round.
Lawyers for Gutierrez, who like Baldwin faces an involuntary manslaughter charge, claim she is being scapegoated for the actor’s failure to follow basic firearms safety rules.
Baldwin has said he is not responsible for the shooting and his lawyers plan to file a motion for charges to be dismissed on grounds the grand jury that indicted him in January failed to follow rules set by the judge.
During Gutierrez’s trial on Monday, an FBI firearms expert said the Italian-made Pietta reproduction Colt .45 revolver Baldin was holding would not fire when fully cocked without the trigger being pulled.
The testimony contrasted with Baldwin’s initial comments after the shooting. He testified that he cocked the gun but did not pull the trigger.
“It would not fire without pulling the trigger in the full cock position,” FBI forensic examiner Bryce Ziegler testified, adding that he had to break the gun by hitting its hammer with a rawhide mallet to make it fire in the fully-cocked position.
In a December 2021 ABC television interview, Baldwin denied responsibility for the shooting, saying it was the job of Gutierrez and others to ensure firearm safety and live rounds should never have been brought on set.
Baldwin said he was directed to point the gun at the camera when it went off.
“I didn’t pull the trigger,” the actor told ABC television journalist George Stephanopoulos in 2021. “I cocked the gun and go, ‘Can you see that? Can you see that? And I let go of the hammer of the gun and the gun goes off.”
(Reporting By Andrew Hay; editing by Donna Bryson and Aurora Ellis)
Disclaimer: This report is auto generated from the Reuters news service. ThePrint holds no responsibilty for its content.