Alec Baldwin 'Rust' Trial Day One: Police Body Cam Footage Shows Halyna Hutchins' Final Moments

The first witness was presented during the Alec Baldwin "Rust" trial following opening statements.

The 66-year-old actor is facing charges of involuntary manslaughter in connection with the death of "Rust" cinematographer Halyna Hutchins. Hutchins was killed on October 21, 2021, when a gun that Baldwin was holding went off on set. He maintains that he did not pull the trigger.

The first witness called to the stand was Officer Nicholas LaFleur, who previously worked with the Santa Fe County Sheriff's Department. He was on duty on October 21, 2021, on the day that Halyna Hutchins was shot. LaFleur was the first person to respond to the scene. He noted that there were fire personnel and the on-set medic, but he was the first police officer to arrive.

Body cam footage from LaFleur following the shooting was presented to the jury. Baldwin was shown watching the footage through his glasses with his arms crossed. At one point, he looked away from the screen and whispered something to his lawyer, Alex Spiro, while paramedics attempted to stabilize Halyna Hutchins, which was shown on the screen in front of him.

During his testimony, LaFleur told lead prosecutor Kari Morrissey that Baldwin told him that he was “holding” the gun when it went off. “One of the guys told me Baldwin pulled the trigger,” LaFleur continued as he described the day of the shooting, aided by footage from his body camera.

Footage from LaFleur’s body camera showed Baldwin saying, “I was holding the gun, yeah,” when approached by the officer.

After several objections, the court paused for lunch and resumed at 3 PM ET. LaFleur was dismissed from the stand shortly after the lunch break, leaving lieutenant  Timoteo Benavidez, who has since retired, to take the stand.

Lieutenant Timoteo Benavidez testified that he arrived at Bonzana Creek Ranch shortly after 2:20 PM and did not leave the scene until approximately 8:30 PM that night. His body camera footage was also shown during the trial, although special prosecutor Erlinda O. Johnson skipped over the twenty minutes it took him to drive from the gate to the scene.

When he arrived on set, he immediately declared that the set was a crime scene and began to take action to secure the set. After requesting photos to be taken of the scene, Benavidez turned his attention to the prop master and began looking for the gun. He was told that armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed had the gun, but could not find the .45 Colt that Baldwin had fired in the confusion. He did, however, note how many firearms were lying around unattended on the prop cart.

He later noted that Hannah Gutierrez-Reed did hand him the gun, but was unsure if other people handled the gun before she took it. Benavidez was also grilled about his decision to let Alec Baldwin remain on set without putting him in the back of a police car.

The third witness to take the stand was Joseph Lujan, a detective at Santa Fe Sheriff’s Department. He met with director Joel Souza at the hospital, where doctors had removed "a projectile" from his shoulder.

The state's fourth witness was Marissa Poppell, a crime scene technician for the Santa Fe Sheriff’s Department. Poppell was presented with the firearm and noted "three small plastic pieces" that appear to have broken off from the weapon during the forensic examination done by the FBI.

Marissa Poppell said she found dummy rounds and blank ammunition on the set and explained to the jury how to identify each of them. Poppell said that she sent some bullets to the FBI for testing but concluded that they found six live rounds total, including a spent shell casing.

She also sent the "projectile" that was found in director Joel Souza's shoulder to the FBI along with the gun used in the shooting. She specifically wanted the FBI to do a "drop test" on the revolver to see if it could fire without the trigger being pulled, as Baldwin had initially claimed.

Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer concluded the day's session. Court will resume on Thursday at 10:30 AM ET.