Alec Baldwin’s ‘Rust’ Shooting Trial Sets July Start Date

Alec Baldwin’s involuntary manslaughter trial is scheduled to begin in July, TheWrap has learned. The “Rust” update comes more than two years after the Santa Fe shooting death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins in October 2021.

In January, a grand jury indicted Baldwin on two charges for his role in the shooting: Involuntary Manslaughter (Negligent Use of a Firearm) and Involuntary Manslaughter (Without Due Caution or Circumspection). He has since pleaded not guilty.

Jury selection is now set to begin on July 9, with opening statements planned for the following day. The trial is expected to last eight days, according to a Monday scheduling order.

TheWrap has reached out to Baldwin’s legal council for comment.

On Oct. 21, 2021, Baldwin was holding a gun that went off on set, killing Hutchins and injuring director Joel Souza. The actor previously pleaded not guilty to an initial involuntary manslaughter charge in February 2023 before those charges were dropped in April 2023.

In New Mexico, the sentence for an involuntary manslaughter conviction can be up to 18 months in prison.

Baldwin’s trial update came amid Hannah Gutierrez-Reed’s own trial. On Monday, prosecution witness and dolly grip operator Ross Addiego testified that the armorer’s handling of the weapons on the film set was “out of the ordinary” as the guns were not “under lock and key.”

Last week, unit production manager Catherine Elizabeth Walters also told the jury that the six-person crew walked off set the night before the fatal shooting due to multiple accidental prop discharges.

Both Baldwin and Gutierrez-Reed have long maintained their innocence.

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