Alec Baldwin to face trial in fatal shooting of cinematographer

Alec Baldwin is about to enter a New Mexico courtroom for the first time since the 2021 shooting.

Almost three years later, after multiple failed attempts by Baldwin's formidable New York legal team to have the case thrown out, those same arguments will be settled by a jury at a court case in Santa Fe starting on Tuesday.

If found guilty, Baldwin could face a maximum 18 months in prison, the same term already being served by the film's armorer, who was convicted in the same courthouse earlier this year. The trial is expected to take around 10 days.

The 66-year-old actor is charged with felony involuntary manslaughter during the shooting of the film Rust in October 2021.

During a shoot, a gun pointed by Baldwin discharged a live round, killing the film's cinematographer and wounding its director. The incident quickly became a global sensation due to Baldwin's A-list fame and the rarity of on-set deaths in the strictly controlled US film industry.

Many sees Baldwin, who did not know the prop gun contained a real bullet, as a victim, and others see the death as a result of his allegedly reckless behaviour.