Alec Baldwin ‘Rust’ trial live: Prosecutor says star ‘played make believe with real gun’ during manslaughter opening statements

Opening statements in Baldwin’s trial have concluded and the court is now taking a morning recess.

Spiro told jurors that the cast and crew were assured multiple times that Baldwin’s gun was “cold.”

A cold gun doesn’t mean no live bullets, he explains to the jury. “It means that you don’t even have the blanks or dummies in it. It means it is inert and can do no harm. They can’t hurt anyone,” he says.

Spiro also described the atmosphere as being calm on the set that day.

“No one had any idea that this venomous, toxic element had been inserted into this magic they were creating, but it did,” he said. “It entered that place. It killed an amazing person, it wounded another, and it changed lives forever.”

He then explained the roles of the people on set, placing the blame on armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, and David Hall, the set’s first assistant director.

“Everybody on a movie set has a role. The armorer armors. The director directs. The actor acts,” he said. “They work in harmony, but they have a division of responsibility.”

Alex Spiro, one of Baldwin’s attorneys, is now speaking.

He tells the jurors that the fatal shooting of Hutchins was an “unspeakable tragedy but Alec Baldwin committed no crime.”

“You have to step back and remember what they were doing on a movie set. Movies and magic have always been closely associated… all over this country for many decades,” he said.

Spiro shifted attention to how a live bullet ever made its way to the Rust  movie set, insisting there was no evidence that Baldwin had anything to do with the bullet going into the gun.

“He was an actor, acting, playing the role of Harlan Rust,” he said. “An actor, playing a character, can act in ways that are lethal that just aren’t lethal on a movie set. These cardinal rules, they’re not cardinal rules on a movie set.”

Johnson tells the jury that they will see video footage during the trial of Baldwin using the gun on set.

“You’ll see the video footage of the multiple occasions during which the defendant used this firearm on the set, and each time he fired it, it was working just fine,” Johnson said.

“And in fact, you’ll hear evidence that the defendant himself admitted in December of 2021 that this gun didn’t have any mechanical problems.”

This comes after Baldwin stated that he did not pull the trigger the day Hutchins was shot.

Johnson also said the firearm was repeatedly tested by a forensic expert at the FBI, which determined that the gun had no defects and was in working order.

The prosecution told the jury that Baldwin routinely failed to do safety checks with armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed on the set of “Rust.”

Johnson said Baldwin was filmed during his required gun safety training “running around, shooting his gun.”

She also said he “didn’t want to offend” Gutierrez-Reed by doing the checks every time he was handed a gun.

“You will learn that one of the rounds in that revolver was a real round, and the evidence will show that Ms. Gutierrez then handed the gun to the defendant,” Johnson said.

“And what you will learn is that, once again, the defendant failed to do a gun safety check with this armorer.”

Prosecutor Johnson said Baldwin asked to be given the “biggest gun” available for the movie.

She told the jury during her opening that they would hear evidence that firearm was sold to the “Rust” set in “perfect” working order.

Gloria Allred, attorney for Halyna Hutchins’ parents and sister, speaks out ahead of court.

Special prosecutor Erlinda Johnson has started her opening statement.

“When someone plays make believe, with a real gun. 

And that person disregards the Cardinal rule of gun safety… People die.”

Johnson says the budget on “Rust” was tight and crew was inexperienced.

Stephen Baldwin, the actor brother of Alec Baldwin, sits behind him in court on Wednesday.

Opening statements are expected to start shortly.

Court has resumed for a second day in Alec Baldwin’s trial in Santa Fe. A jury was selected on Tuesday.

Baldwin is in court and opening statements will begin shortly.

The proceedings can be livestreamed here: