The Wild West pistol is essential to Alec Baldwin’s manslaughter trial.

Alec Baldwin’s prosecution for the 2021 shooting death of “Rust” cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on a New Mexico film set centers on the internal workings of a Colt.45 “Peacemaker” revolver, a symbol of the American Wild West.
In a Santa Fe, New Mexico courtroom on Tuesday, Baldwin and his spouse Hilaria Baldwin were among those seeing the selection of 12 jurors and 4 alternates, including 11 women and 5 males.

Wednesday marks the beginning of the trial, which comes almost three years after Baldwin shot Hutchins as she was preparing a camera shot inside a church that was used for a movie set, roughly 20 miles southwest of Santa Fe.
Prospective jurors were questioned by prosecutors about their familiarity with the case, and a defense attorney inquired about their viewing of Baldwin’s roles and whether or not it may have affected their perception of the actor.
Potential jurors were informed by Baldwin’s attorney, Alex Spiro, “There’s a man who’s sitting here who has his day in court now, finally, Alec Baldwin, and so he’s obviously not just a person in the media, he’s a real person.”
Hutchin’s death in 2021 was the first shooting death in Hollywood history to occur on a set in thirty years, and it briefly spurred demands to stop the widespread usage of actual guns on film sets.
It is noteworthy because there is little to no precedence in American history for an actor to be charged with a crime in connection with a gunshot fatality that occurs on set. If found guilty, the “30 Rock” star may spend up to 18 months behind bars.
A Santa Fe, New Mexico, jury convicted “Rust” armorer Hannah Gutierrez, the designated worker in charge of weapon safety, guilty of involuntary homicide in March when she accidentally loaded a live cartridge into Baldwin’s pistol. Gutierrez was given a sentence of up to eighteen months.
Legal experts and experts in weapons had long anticipated that Baldwin’s case would center on whether he ought to have examined the pistol after being informed that it was “cold,” an industry slang phrase for empty or containing fake, inactive bullets.
However, Baldwin admitted to not pulling the trigger in a crucial interview with ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos in December 2021.
Joel Souza, a director and emerging star cinematographer, was shot and murdered by a live cartridge that was fired by Baldwin, 66, who claimed to have cocked the replica 1873 Single Action Army handgun.
The Santa Fe police investigated Baldwin’s allegations. The pistol functioned correctly and wouldn’t fire at full capacity without the trigger pushed, according to an FBI assessment. Following that, state prosecutors brought charges, claiming Baldwin had lied about the trigger.
Baldwin’s defense team responded last year with photos showing that the full-cock notch on the Italian-made Pietta rifle had been filed down, making firing it simpler. That, they said, permitted a mechanical malfunction or “accidental discharge” in the absence of a trigger pull.

UPHILL FIGHT

Legal experts believe it will be difficult for the prosecution to demonstrate that Baldwin knew he may kill Hutchins yet acted with deliberate disregard for the danger, regardless of whether the revolver was altered. This kind of criminal negligence is necessary for a conviction of involuntary manslaughter.
According to gun historian Ashley Hlebinsky, executive director of the University of Wyoming Firearms Research Center, “the gun is probably the best defense, because there is no way to definitively say what the condition of the firearm was.”
Last year, after concluding that the firearm was altered, the prosecution dismissed all accusations. In January, when an impartial weapons expert validated the results of the FBI investigation, prosecutors brought the case before a grand jury, which upheld the original charges.
During testing, the FBI destroyed the pistol. That left them unable to demonstrate that it was altered, according to the actor’s attorneys.
Hlebinsky suggests that Baldwin’s strongest argument might be the skepticism his attorneys plant regarding the pistol’s operation.
“I don’t think anyone can say 100% what happened,” said the weapons historian, who has testified on behalf of clients about single action Colt 45 style revolvers, which are comparable to Baldwin’s.

More in Entertainment: https://buzzing.today/entertainment/
Photo Credits: https://commons.wikimedia.org/