The jury selection process for Alec Baldwin’s film industry trial, which will determine whether the actor is guilty of involuntary manslaughter, starts on Tuesday.
It would be uncommon to be selected to serve in a trial involving a well-known celebrity who is charged with a serious crime, not even in Los Angeles or Baldwin’s own New York. But for those chosen to serve as jurors in Santa Fe, New Mexico, it will be practically an unprecedented experience, even if the state has grown more and more of a center for Hollywood productions in recent years.
Ilaria Catalina Irena Baldwin, Baldwin’s youngest kid, was there when he and his wife Hilaria arrived at the courthouse on Tuesday. The couples have seven children ranging from one to ten.
Baldwin, 66, faces a maximum sentence of 18 months in prison if all jurors find him guilty. The jury’s job is to determine if Baldwin committed a crime when, in October 2021, he was aiming a handgun at cinematographer Halyna Hutchins during a rehearsal, killing her and injuring director Joel Souza.
They were at Bonanza Creek Ranch, which is about eighteen miles away from the trial site, on the set of the Western movie Rust. Baldwin claims that after following orders to aim the rifle at Ms. Hutchins, who was behind the camera, it unintentionally fired. Baldwin claimed he pulled back the hammer rather than the trigger, and the gun fired because he was unaware that it was loaded with live ammunition.
In a major success for the defense, Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer decided during a pretrial hearing that Baldwin’s involvement as a co-producer on Rust was not relevant to the trial.
This marked the start of 30 Rock and The Hunt for Red October’s first court appearance. Opening comments should take place on Wednesday, according to the court, which stated that the unique circumstances of a celebrity trial should not prevent jury selection from proceeding swiftly.
Judge Marlowe Sommer remarked, “I’m not worried about being able to pick a jury in one day.” “I believe that by the afternoon, a jury will be chosen.”
But Kari Morrissey, the special prosecutor, was skeptical that Baldwin’s attorneys, with whom she has clashed in the lead-up to the trial, would allow that.
During the hearing, Ms. Morrissey stated, “I guess that with this group of defense attorneys, that’s not gonna happen.” Attorney Alex Spiro for Baldwin retorted, “I’ve never failed to select a jury in a single day. It is inconceivable that this is the first time.
On Tuesday morning, dozens of potential jurors were herded into the courtroom to be questioned. Actor Stephen Baldwin of The Usual Suspects was among the notable guests on Tuesday. To preserve the privacy of the jurors, the remaining proceedings will not be captured by cameras.
After a nine-day trial, the matter is anticipated to go to the jury. Attorneys may ask to have them dismissed due to conflicts or other grounds.
According to state law, the prosecution may remove three jurors and the defense may remove up to five without justifying. When four alternatives are selected, more challenges will be accepted. Prosecutors had planned to emphasize Baldwin’s co-producer responsibilities for safety on the set to support a different theory of guilt than his allegedly careless use of a pistol before Judge Marlowe Sommer’s decision on Monday.
According to the involuntary manslaughter statute, they sought to connect Baldwin’s actions to “total disregard or indifference for the safety of others.” Still, the prosecution scored some other victories on Monday.
They were successful in their attempt to have summary results from a state workplace safety inquiry excluded, which shifted the majority of the blame away from Baldwin and onto the assistant director of the movie.
Additionally, the judge decided that gruesome photos taken from Ms. Hutchins’ autopsy and police lapel cameras when she was receiving medical attention might be shown.
“Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited, whereas imagination embraces the entire world, stimulating progress, giving birth to evolution.”