Jurors on Wednesday watched police bodycam footage during Alec Baldwin’s manslaughter trial for the October 2021 shooting death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of the movie “Rust.”
Baldwin, 66, appeared distressed as the footage was shown on the first day of the trial in Santa Fe, New Mexico, according to the U.K.’s Daily Mail.
In the video, Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Deputy Nicholas LeFleur is heard informing dispatchers of “one female shot in the chest, male shot in the stomach” and calling for an air evacuation, according to reports.
The footage “captured the frantic efforts to save Hutchins, who looked unconscious as several people attended to her and gave her an oxygen mask,” The Associated Press reported. In court, Baldwin watched the screen somberly as the video played.
Special prosecutor Erlinda Johnson told the jury that Baldwin was “playing make-believe with a real gun,” CNN reported.
“Baldwin has claimed the gun fired accidentally after he followed instructions to point it toward Hutchins, who was behind the camera,” the AP reported. “Unaware that it was loaded with a live round, he said he pulled back the hammer — not the trigger — and it fired.”
However, Johnson dismissed that version of events, according to CNN.
“The evidence will show, ladies and gentlemen, that’s not possible,” she told the jury, adding that the weapon was in “perfect working order.”
Johnson said Baldwin “declined multiple opportunities for standard safety checks with armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed before the rehearsal,” the AP reported. She described the moment when Baldwin “cocks the hammer, points it straight at Miss Hutchins, and fires that gun, sending that live bullet right into Miss Hutchins’ body.”
Director Joel Souza was also wounded in the shoulder during the incident.
Baldwin’s attorney, Alex Spiro, told jurors during opening statements that his client’s actions were not criminal. He was simply “an actor, acting,” Spiro said, attributing the accident to a failure by those responsible for ensuring safety on the set.
Gutierrez-Reed was convicted of involuntary manslaughter in February and received the maximum sentence of 18 months in prison.