Alec Baldwin 's Lawyer Blasts 'Rust' Shooting Probe, Claims Agents Were More Interested in Prosecuting Actor

Headline-Grabbing Allegations in Alec Baldwin 's Rust Shooting Trial

On the second day of Alec Baldwin 's involuntary manslaughter trial, his defense lawyer, Alex Spiro , grilled a New Mexico crime scene technician over the investigation into the fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of the movie "Rust."

Spiro suggested that law enforcement agents were more interested in prosecuting Baldwin than finding the source of the live ammunition that ended up in the actor's gun and killed Hutchins.

Questioning the Search Warrant Execution

Under cross-examination, Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office technician Marissa Poppell admitted that they did not search every box at the premises of prop supplier PDQ Arm & Prop, which Spiro alleged could have supplied the six live rounds found on the movie set.

"Isn't it true that you were trying to get this over with so that the prosecutors could focus on Alec Baldwin ?" Spiro asked Poppell , to which she replied, "No."

Poppell defended the search as "reasonable" given the limited number of officials and the cluttered nature of the PDQ warehouse.

Prosecutors' Opening Statements

In their opening statements on the first day of the trial, prosecutors accused Baldwin of breaking "cardinal rules of firearm safety" as he "played make believe with a real gun" in the 2021 shooting.

Hutchins died when Baldwin was directed to point his gun at her, he cocked it, and it fired a live round as they set up a camera shot inside a movie-set church.

The Rust Armorer's Conviction

"Rust" armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed was convicted of involuntary manslaughter in March for inadvertently loading the live round into Baldwin 's gun. Prosecutors accused Gutierrez-Reed of bringing the live rounds onto the set, an allegation she denied.

Defense's Argument

Defense lawyers argue that Baldwin had nothing to do with the live rounds on set and was failed by Gutierrez-Reed and other safety experts who should have detected them.

Courtroom Presence

Baldwin 's wife Hilaria Baldwin and his siblings Stephen Baldwin and Elizabeth Keuchler were present in the courtroom, as was lawyer Gloria Allred, who is representing Hutchins' Ukrainian parents and sister in a civil lawsuit against Baldwin and others.

Allred said she had no doubt that Baldwin acted negligently, stating, "If you point a gun at another human being you should assume it's loaded. Got it? It doesn't say except for actors, they're above the law or they're above safety protocols."

Conclusion

The defense's aggressive questioning of the crime scene technician and the revelation of potentially relevant evidence that was not disclosed to the defense set the stage for a dramatic turn of events in the Alec Baldwin Rust shooting trial.