Two jurors in Alec Baldwin's trial said: diverse They were heading toward a conviction when the manslaughter case was suddenly dismissed.
Their views conflict with those of three other jurors who told The New York Times and People magazine that they had serious doubts about Baldwin's conviction.
Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer dismissed the case on July 12, after learning that prosecutors had failed to provide the defense with evidence of a hoard of bullets. Baldwin could have faced up to 18 months in prison if convicted in the shooting death of “Rust” cameraman Halyna Hutchins at a movie ranch near Santa Fe, New Mexico.
The two jurors who spoke to diverseChris Montoya and Dennis Garcia said they own guns and have learned that it is the user's responsibility to make sure the gun is safe.
“Even if your friends give you a gun to check out, you always throw it away right away,” said Garcia, a plumber. “You make sure there’s nothing in it.”
Montoya, who works for the New Mexico Department of Information Technology, said he was not convinced by the defense's claim that Baldwin's gun may have malfunctioned.
“It seemed like their whole defense was that he didn't pull the trigger, and maybe the gun was defective. I really feel like neither of those things were true,” Montoya said.
The trial was supposed to last eight days, but jurors only saw opening statements from attorneys and two days of testimony before being sent home. The prosecution has yet to play police interviews with Baldwin or call safety experts on the set, and the defense has not called any of its own witnesses.
Jonathan Graboff, a third juror, said: diverse He was not sure how he voted, since he had not seen all the evidence. Graboff was listed in the court filing as one of four alternates, though he said he was never told whether he was an alternate or on a panel of 12.
Two other jurors, Johanna Haag and Gabriela Pecayo, told The New York Times that the case seemed weak to them.
“I’m still here, I’m still open to listening and I’m trying to remain neutral of course, but I’m starting to move towards the belief that this is absolutely ridiculous and should not be prosecuted,” Becayo told The Times.
Martina Marquez, another jury member, told People magazine that pursuing the charge against Baldwin seemed “pointless.”
Garcia said that although he was disturbed by the circumstances surrounding the incident, he felt Baldwin had a responsibility to check the weapon.
“If you look at it objectively, when you’re working as an individual on a movie set, you have to make sure everything is safe,” he said. “If I had to say anything, I would say, ‘I’m sorry, but it’s a guilty verdict.’ It just happened. Someone died.”
The jurors were not supposed to discuss the case among themselves. However, Montoya said he felt the jury was “somewhat divided,” and that two other jurors were leaning toward a guilty verdict.
“I wish we could have gone deeper into it,” he said. “I was interested in seeing some of the other things the prosecution said.”
Prosecutors alleged that Baldwin violated “basic rules” of gun safety when he pointed his Colt .45 revolver at Hutchins and pulled the trigger.
“It goes back to how I was taught,” Montoya said. “I’ve been shooting since I was a kid. I’ve taught my kids how to handle guns safely. I’ve taught them exactly the same thing: Make sure you know what’s in it, don’t point it at the target, and know exactly what you’re shooting at.”
The defense claimed that these rules did not apply to movie sets, and that Baldwin, as an actor, was not responsible for gun safety.
“This argument resonated with me,” said Graboff, who has long worked in television and music.
Graboff said he was surprised to be selected for the jury, after telling the judge his work history gave him perspective on the case.
“I just told them that I expect people to do their jobs properly. There were two people whose job it was to make sure the gun was safe, and they failed to do that,” he said. “In situations like this, if I was given a piece of equipment, I would expect it to work properly.”
He said he told the judge that unless there was evidence that Baldwin and the production knew the gun people were incompetent, “I would have a hard time finding that for the prosecution.”
He sat down anyway, saying the prosecutor's opening statement had not dispelled his reservations.
“Their argument was that he should have examined the weapon himself. You know, that's not how the real world works,” he said.
In general, the jury's opinions were preliminary, and it is impossible to know whether they will stick to their guns or be persuaded to change their minds after hearing all the evidence and deliberating.
“It's hard to make a full assessment. I don't know what my fellow jurors were thinking,” Garcia said.
The jury was advised not to follow any news related to the case. Garcia said that after he was sent home, he avoided the news and social media, and refused to communicate with friends who told him the case had been dismissed.
He said he went to court the following Monday, only to be told his service was over and he could go home.
