Alec Baldwin shows Halyna Hutchins' final moments as star's manslaughter trial begins

Alec Baldwin went from a film role to a manslaughter trial.

As a Hollywood veteran with four decades of experience, he is used to the media spotlight, but this trial puts him in the spotlight and under the scrutiny in ways that are completely foreign to him.

As he entered the courthouse in Santa Fe, New Mexico, Baldwin was surrounded by television cameras.

He remained silent as reporters asked him a series of questions. How did he feel? Would he be a free man in two weeks? Was he afraid of going to prison? Was he responsible for the death of Halyna Hutchins?

The latter is the key question that the jury will be dealing with over the next two weeks.

It is undisputed that Mrs Hutchins was killed by a live bullet from a gun aimed at her.

But the prosecution and defense's accounts of the events and the background differ significantly.

The state of New Mexico says Baldwin showed a “reckless disregard” for gun safetywhile the defense insists that he was following industry protocol and could not possibly have imagined that live ammunition would be involved on set.

Alec Baldwin entered the courtroom on the second floor of the First Judicial District Courthouse with his wife Hilaria, the mother of seven of his children.

She sat in the front row of the audience while her husband sat in the dock, flanked by his two defense lawyers.

Smartly dressed in a dark suit, patterned tie and thick glasses, he listened intently throughout and looked serious as the court was shown body camera video showing the desperate efforts to save the life of Ms Hutchins, a rising star in the world of cinematography.

Baldwin's brother Stephen, an actor, and his sister Beth were also on hand and could be seen talking with their sibling during the morning hearing and the lunch break.

Erlinda Johnson, representing the prosecution, began her opening statement by displaying a photograph of Halyna Hutchins on the evidence television screen.

She was seen smiling as the sun set over the Bonanza Creek Ranch, with a wooden film set in a church behind her. It was in this building that she was shot several days later. Prosecutors argue that Baldwin bears some of the blame.

“The evidence will show, ladies and gentlemen,” Ms. Johnson said, “that, as in many workplaces, there are people who act recklessly and put other people in danger and act without due regard for the safety of others. You will hear from the defendant, Alexander Baldwin, the main actor in this film.”

Two months after the October 2021 tragedy that killed Halyna Hutchins, Alec Baldwin gave an interview to ABC in which he denied pulling the trigger of the gun.

His defense attorney seemed prepared to retract that claim in his opening statement.

Alex Spiro said: “On a film set, you are allowed to pull the trigger. So even if he had pulled the trigger, as the prosecution has proven, that does not make him guilty of manslaughter. He did not know and had no reason to know that the gun was loaded with live ammunition.”

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The trial is expected to last eight days, not including jury deliberations.

One question that keeps coming up during the trial is whether Baldwin himself will testify as a witness.

This would add some Hollywood drama to the proceedings, but would be a potentially risky move for the defense.