Trigger Warning: This article contains references to violence and potential murder.
Two jurors who were present in the Rust case spoke out about the trials. The judge dismissed Alec Baldwin’s involuntary manslaughter charges on July 12 after the prosecutor was found hiding crucial evidence in court. The jurors spoke to The New York Times, where they revealed that the case was baseless as the evidence clearly stated that Baldwin’s shooting was an accident. The incident that took place on the sets of the Rust movie in 2021 cost the cinematographer her life.
The jurors confessed that the panel of 12 jurors came to a unanimous decision to drop the case against the actor after Baldwin’s attorney argued over the hidden evidence.
What did the jurors say about the Rust case and Alec Baldwin’s trial?
In conversation with the New York Times, the jurors revealed that when they were first asked to be on the case, they were aware of the situation, and the opposition made some strong points. However, as the days went by, the panel, too, thought of the case going in favor of Baldwin.
One of the jury members stated, “As the week went by, it just didn’t, it didn’t seem like a very strong case.” The other jury member, Johanna Haag, claimed that she had the verdict ready in her mind as she knew that it was clearly an accident.
Haag revealed, “It was clearly an accident, and the idea that there’s anything purposeful, or the idea that there was this grave carelessness that caused this, didn’t seem realistic to me.”
The other juror stated that it was clear from the trials that the 30 Rock actor was not quite aware of the gun safety protocols, and instead of picking up the weapon by himself, he should have waited for advice from experts.
ALSO READ: ‘It’s Been A Long Difficult Road’: Alec Baldwin Opens Up About His Rust Shooting Case Dismissal
Alec Baldwin’s Rust case trials
Alec Baldwin faced charges of involuntary manslaughter after accidentally shooting and killing the cinematographer, Haylna Hutchins, on the sets of the Rust movie. Joel Souza, the director, was also hurt by the bullet that the actor fired.
However, the Rust armorer, Hannah Gutierrez Reed, was convicted on the charges of involuntary manslaughter.
The movie concluded shooting in May 2023 and is in the process of post-production. However, the makers of Rust have not yet announced the date of release.
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