Alec Baldwin trial: Jury hears 911 call during ‘Rust’ involuntary manslaughter case

Despite the high-profile nature of the case, the first day of Baldwin's trial has been relatively lackluster as the state's attorneys attempt to establish the investigative process following the "Rust" shooting.

The first witnesses brought on by Johnson and Morrissey focused mainly on the law enforcement response to the scene, including how witnesses were questioned and evidence was collected.

Baldwin's defense kept the cross-examinations relatively brief, often trying to shift witnesses away from Baldwin and onto the movie set's crew. Spiro repeatedly shifted responsibility for on-set safety to Gutierrez, the armorer, and Halls, the first assistant director.

Opening statements hinted at more to come, however, as "Rust" crew members and more forensic experts are expected to testify.

Prosecutors have called to the stand their fourth witness, Marissa Poppell, a crime scene tech with the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office. 

Poppell testified that she was tasked with taking photographs and collecting evidence at the movie set’s church, where the shooting took place.

Inside the church, Poppell collected Baldwin’s gun shoulder holster that held one live round of ammunition, she testified.

The prosecution questioned its second witness — Timoteo Benavidez, a retired lieutenant with the Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office — to establish a chain of custody for the revolver that fired the bullet that killed Hutchins.

Benavidez told Johnson that he secured the gun from the on-set armorer and made sure there were no more rounds in the revolver before he placed it in the front seat of his patrol car. He described it as the "most secure" location he had at the time. Benavidez took ammunition from the armorer's cart and placed it in his car.

Baldwin's defense previously tried to have the case dismissed, saying the state damaged the gun Baldwin used on set during testing. Sommer denied the motion, though she instructed the prosecution to establish "the destructive nature of firearm testing, the resulting loss and its relevance and import to the jury.”

If Baldwin is convicted, it will be because he insisted in interviews with law enforcement and news outlets that he didn’t pull the trigger. Because of that, the state can now introduce expert evidence showing that it is highly improbable that the single-action revolver went off without the trigger’s being pulled. 

Had he said nothing, that evidence wouldn’t be as damaging. But Baldwin’s forceful denial that he pulled the trigger — and worse, his insistence that he would “never” pull the trigger of a firearm on set — is terrible for the defense. It makes Baldwin look dishonest. 

Baldwin’s claim that he didn’t pull the trigger features prominently in the state’s opening arguments. It’s arguably a huge part of its case and one that wouldn’t exist had Baldwin simply not talked to everyone who would listen. 

If Baldwin is convicted, his case will be a cautionary tale: A defendant’s own words can transform a weak case into a strong one.

After lunch, Baldwin's defense attorney ended a cross-examination, asking questioning LeFleur whether it was truly fair to say Baldwin defied his order not to speak to others.

LeFleur told Spiro that while he did tell Baldwin not to speak to witnesses, he did not repeatedly give the order.

"He wasn't really disobeying police orders was he, sir?" Spiro asked.

"To an extent, yes," LeFleur responded.

Spiro began cross-examining LeFleur, the former deputy who was first on the scene, with a focus on the man's self-admitted mistakes.

Spiro asked LeFleur about his own admission of mistakes, with LeFleur agreeing that "hindsight is 20/20." Spiro also tried to impeach LeFleur regarding some of his statements but was interrupted with an objection from the prosecution.

Court adjourned for lunch during the cross-examination.

First responders scrambled to help Hutchins inside the movie set’s church in the frantic moments after the shooting, according to video from the body camera of the first law enforcement officer to arrive at the scene, which was played for the jurors.

A medic can be heard asking Hutchins whether she can open her eyes after she was wheeled out of the church on a stretcher and loaded into an ambulance.

Director Joel Souza was later wheeled out of the church. 

LeFleur began setting up a crime scene perimeter and instructed crew members to stand aside, the video shows. He stood with Baldwin and instructed him not to speak to others.

A prosecutor pointed out that despite LeFleur’s instruction, Baldwin continued to speak about the incident.

The video shows Baldwin sitting and smoking a cigarette as he answers LeFleur’s questions and asks about the location of the two victims.

LeFleur testified that he had concerns about witnesses speaking to one another after the shooting, potentially tainting their statements about the events.

LeFleur then instructed Baldwin to stop talking and stood next to him while he was detained. Video from LeFleur's lapel camera showed him later speaking with other witnesses.

"Is this an ideal way to separate someone from witnesses?" prosecutor Kari Morrissey asked LeFleur.

"After looking at it, probably not, but that's what happened," he answered.

The state has called its first witness to the stand, Santa Fe Police Officer Nicholas LeFleur.

LeFleur, who was working with the sheriff's department at the time of the "Rust" shooting, was the first law enforcement officer at the scene after the 911 call.