MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” host Joe Scarborough said Friday that actor Alec Baldwin might have some trouble at trial because the gun culture of New Mexico is more responsible than that of other places such as Manhattan.
Cinematographer Halyna Hutchins was fatally shot Oct. 21, 2021 after Baldwin fired a prop gun that contained a live round. The bullet struck Hutchins in the chest while director Joel Souza was hit in the shoulder. Baldwin and the head armorer of the film, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, were both charged with involuntary manslaughter Thursday. Assistant Director Dave Halls accepted a plea deal for the charge of negligent use of a deadly weapon and received six months probation.
MSNBC’s legal analyst Danny Cevallos said the jury in the trial is likely “more knowledgeable” about guns and that could pose a problem for Baldwin.
“Remember, this is in New Mexico, it’s an open carry state, so you might have people on that jury that are more knowledgeable about guns than people in Manhattan, and they may have your view, which is, ‘Hey, look, if it looks like a futuristic ray gun, don’t point it at anybody because it could be loaded, or a laser or whatever,'” Cevallos said.
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“So, New Mexico is open carry,” Scarborough chimed in. “A lot of people have guns there, and it might be the presumption of some that don’t live in a culture where there are a lot of gun owners, that they would be lenient on Alec Baldwin when actually, as I say on this show all the time, the opposite is true. Because most people that I have known growing up in Mississippi and Alabama and Georgia and northwest Florida, they’re really responsible with their guns.” (RELATED: DA Slams Alec Baldwin, ‘Rust’ Crew Members After Actor Charged In Fatal Shooting)
“They lock them up. They would never point a gun at anybody,” Scarborough continued. “So, actually, the fact that there’s more of a gun culture in that state may actually cut against Alec Baldwin more than, say, if this was tried in Manhattan.”
Baldwin has denied any wrongdoing, saying in a 2021 interview he “didn’t pull the trigger.”
“I would never point a gun at anyone and pull the trigger at them, never,” Baldwin said.