Prosecutor in Alec Baldwin Rust Trial Seems to Be Throwing Defense ‘Off Their Game’: Legal Expert (Exclusive)

A prosecutor in Alec Baldwin’s involuntary manslaughter trial seems to have thrown the defense team “off their game,” according to a legal expert who is watching the proceedings.

As the trial enters its third day, former Los Angeles deputy district attorney Emily D. Baker, who is not involved in the case, says the methodical and commanding approach of Kari T. Morrissey seems to have Baldwin’s defense attorneys, including high-profile lawyer Alex Spiro, "frustrated."

“Kari Morrissey is taking control of the courtroom and the defense seems very frustrated by it. She interrupts, she objects, she speaks out in the court,” notes Baker. “It seems to be throwing the defense off their game." (Morrissey is also working with prosecutor Erlinda Johnson, who gave the prosecution's opening statement.)

Baker points to the defense asking what she calls an “improper question” of Marissa Poppell, a crime scene technician for the Santa Fe Sheriff, about evidence she collected from the set of Rust in 2021 following the accidental and fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.

“You personally believe that Alec Baldwin committed no crime, is that correct?” Spiro asked her.

Morrissey, “instead of saying objection and ground, she just said in an exasperated way, ‘Your Honor, please.’ And then the judge looked at the defense attorney and said, ‘Don't do that. Don't do that again,’” continues Baker. “It just goes to show the way the attorneys are interacting.”

Baldwin has pleaded not guilty to one count of involuntary manslaughter. He was indicted by a grand jury in January for his role in Hutchins’ death.  

The 66-year-old Emmy winner was rehearsing a scene in a church on the set when the gun discharged, killing Hutchins and injuring director Joel Souza, who recovered from his wounds. Baldwin has insisted he did not pull the trigger or know how the gun contained live ammunition.

The prosecutors have claimed Baldwin was “reckless” on set and flouted standard gun safety protocol while they aim to prove he did indeed pull the trigger.

On Thursday, July 10, Alessandro Pietta, who manufactured the gun in question, testified at the trial, saying the gun “cannot fire without a pull of trigger because the mechanics and design of trigger was made to work in this way.”

During cross-examination from the defense, which had objected to Pietta’s testimony, confirmed that Pietta did not see or have knowledge of its condition on the Rust set. 

Baker says she is impressed and “surprised” that the prosecutors went the extra mile to fly in Pietta from Italy to help make their case. “It’s incredibly thorough,” she says.

“We're going to know what happened with this gun from the moment it was made to the moment it ended up in Baldwin's hands,” she says.

Morrissey also prosecuted Rust armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, who was in charge of the weapons on set. She was convicted of involuntary manslaughter in March for her role in Hutchins’ death.

Spiro, notes Baker, “had the advantage of watching the Hannah Gutierrez trial. Very rarely do you get to watch tape like this — especially when you are an out-of-state attorney [watching] an attorney you're facing off with in court. He had an entire trial to learn Kari Morrissey's gameplay. She's doing the exact same thing in this trial. So he was prepared, and it has still thrown him off.”

Baldwin’s trial is expected to go through Friday, July 19. If convicted, he potentially faces up to 18 months in prison.