On the first day of Alec Baldwin's New Mexico trial, prosecutors portrayed him as a person who disregards rules and lacks concern for safety in the shooting incident involving a cinematographer, The Associated Press reports. Special prosecutor Erlinda Ocampo Johnson repeatedly referred to Baldwin's playing “make-believe” with a revolver on the set of the film “Rust.” He said it led to genuine danger and the death of Halyna Hutchins. Ocampo Johnson told jurors Wednesday that Baldwin “requested to be assigned the biggest gun available” and that during a training session for it, he had “people filming him while he’s running around shooting this gun.” The prosecutor said behind-the-scenes video will show Baldwin casually disregarding basic firearm safety. “You will see him using this gun as a pointer to point at people, point at things,” Ocampo Johnson said. “You will see him cock the hammer when he is not supposed to cock the hammer, you will see him put his finger on the trigger when his finger’s not supposed to be on the trigger.”
Hutchins’ death and the wounding of director Joel Souza sent shock waves through the film industry and led to the felony involuntary manslaughter charge against Baldwin that could result in up to 18 months in prison. The trial of the 66-year-old star continued with testimony from a crime scene technician with the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Department. The technician, Marissa Poppell, allowed jurors to see the revolver and the spent round from the shooting. Baldwin’s lawyer Alex Spiro emphasized that Baldwin did only what actors always do. That includes pulling the trigger. Baldwin has said the gun fired accidentally, but Spiro said that it still would not be manslaughter even if he had willfully fired it. Spiro called the shooting an “unspeakable tragedy” and that an “amazing person” died, but said the responsibility lies with the film’s armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, who has already been convicted of involuntary manslaughter, and of assistant director David Halls, who told Baldwin the gun was “cold.”