Alec Baldwin’s manslaughter trial to begin in July

New Mexico’s First Judicial District Court on Monday entered a scheduling order with a trial date in State v. Alexander Rae Baldwin.

Jury selection is to begin July 9, with the trial expected to last until July 19.

The court also noted that Baldwin’s team has until May 6 to file any motions to dismiss the charges.

Baldwin was indicted by a grand jury on January 19 on an involuntary manslaughter charge after prosecutors dropped the original manslaughter charges last April.

The 65-year-old star and producer of Rust is accused of fatally shooting Halyna Hutchins, 42, on the New Mexico set of the Western in October 2021.

The actor was practicing a cross-draw when the gun fired, striking the cinematographer and director Joel Souza, who suffered a non-life-threatening injury.

Two others were charged in the on-set shooting: armorer Hannah Gutierrez and first assistant director David Halls.

Halls pleaded no contest to a charge of negligent use of a deadly weapon and was sentenced to six months unsupervised probation as part of a plea deal. Halls handed the Colt .45-style revolver to Baldwin prior to the shooting.

The trial for Gutierrez, who is also charged with involuntary manslaughter in the shooting, began last week.

Investigators working the case found a “mix” of hundreds of rounds on the set, including inert “dummy” bullets, blank-firing rounds and live ammunition.