Key players: Who's who at Alec Baldwin's trial for the fatal shooting of a cinematographer

A dozen people were inside a movie set church the day Alec Baldwin shot and killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and wounded director Joel Souza during a rehearsal for the Western film “Rust.”

Now, almost three years later and after countless hearings and much legal wrangling, Baldwin is standing trial on a charge of involuntary manslaughter. Some of those who were inside the church that fateful day in 2021 are expected to testify.

The witness list also includes numerous investigators, firearms experts and likely the film's armorer — who is appealing a conviction for her role in the shooting.

Baldwin, the lead actor and co-producer of the film, has claimed the gun fired accidentally after he followed instructions to point it toward Hutchins, who was behind the camera. Unaware that it was loaded with a live round, he said he pulled back the hammer — not the trigger — and it fired.

Prosecutors plan to present evidence that the gun's trigger had to be pulled. They have said Baldwin shares responsibility for what happened that day.

Here’s a look at the key players in the criminal trial of an actor who has been a TV and movie mainstay for decades:

ALEC BALDWIN — Known for his roles in the early blockbuster “The Hunt for Red October,” Martin Scorsese’s “The Departed” and the sitcom “30 Rock," Baldwin's career has spanned more than four decades and has included other gun-toting roles. Baldwin has twice been charged in Hutchins’ death. Prosecutors dismissed an earlier charge, then revived it through a grand jury after receiving a new analysis of the revolver he pointed at Hutchins. An indictment alleges Baldwin caused Hutchins’ death — either by negligence or “total disregard or indifference” for safety. He has pleaded not guilty.

HANNAH GUTIERREZ-REED — The stepdaughter of renowned sharpshooter and weapons consultant Thell Reed, Gutierrez-Reed was 24 at the time of the deadly rehearsal. “Rust” was her second assignment as an armorer in a feature film. Her attorneys argued that she was scapegoated, pointing to safety concerns that went beyond their client. She was sentenced to 18 months in prison on an involuntary manslaughter conviction, which she's appealing. At sentencing, Gutierrez-Reed said she had tried to do her best on the set despite not having “proper time, resources and staffing.”

DAVID HALLS — With credits including “The Matrix Reloaded,” Halls had worked on dozens of films over a 30-year career. The assistant director and safety coordinator pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor charge of negligent use of a deadly weapon and received a suspended sentence of six months of probation. It was learned after “Rust” producers halted work on the film in 2021 that Halls had been fired from a previous job after a gun went off on a set and wounded a member of the film crew.

JOEL SOUZA — A director and writer, Souza wrote the screenplay for “Rust.” Although he had worked on smaller projects over the years, he made his feature debut in 2019 with “Crown Vic.” Baldwin was among the producers on that project, too, and had said he was looking forward to working with Souza on the western. Souza was wounded by the same bullet that killed Hutchins. Souza testified previously he moved in behind Hutchins for a closer look at the camera angle and never saw the gun that shot him.

ROSS ADDIEGO — He was hired by Rust Productions as a front-line crew member who built and operated systems for guiding the film’s camera. He was among those in the church the day Hutchins was killed. He and other crew members are suing the producers, claiming their failure to follow industry safety rules induced emotional distress.

ZAC SNEESBY — A sound engineer and boom operator, Sneesby has worked on numerous projects, with “Stranger Things” being among his most recent work. He also has mixed sound for the art collaborative Meow Wolf in Santa Fe. He said in a recent pretrial interview that he was standing very close to Baldwin when the actor shot and killed Hutchins. He told prosecutors he saw Baldwin pull the trigger.

LUCIEN HAAG — A firearms expert with a consulting company based in Arizona, Haag has been tapped to testify in numerous criminal cases on subjects that include firearms identification and the reconstruction of shootings. Prosecutors have identified Haag and his son, Michael, as two of the country's leading experts on firearms forensics. The pair examined the gun that Baldwin was using during the rehearsal.

KARI MORRISSEY — A veteran lawyer whose experience includes hundreds of trials, Morrissey took over as a special prosecutor in March 2023. She has practiced law in New Mexico for more than 20 years, having graduated from the University of New Mexico's law school. Accused of being overzealous by Baldwin's legal team, Morrissey has not been one to back down during the many hearings leading up to the trial. Throughout her career, her focus has included criminal defense and civil rights-related cases.

ERLINDA JOHNSON — Joining the team less than three months ago, Johnson had to be a quick study. Her specialty has been criminal defense and personal injury. She was tapped in a high-profile public corruption case to defend former New Mexico Secretary of State Dianna Duran, who resigned in 2015 amid revelations she used campaign funds to fuel a gambling addiction. Johnson also previously worked as a federal prosecutor on drug enforcement and organized crime investigations after serving as an assistant district attorney in the Albuquerque area.

LUKE NIKAS — With a resume that boasts top billing on numerous legal MVP lists, Nikas is a graduate of Harvard Law School and a partner in the New York office of one of the world's largest law firms. When the charges were first announced against Baldwin, Nikas called it a miscarriage of justice, vowing his team would fight the charges and would win. He's best known for his work in the art world, having represented museums, galleries, auction houses and collectors. He also has recovered works of art by Andy Warhol and Pablo Picasso and led the defense in a forgery case that rocked New York's art world.

ALEX SPIRO — A fellow Harvard grad and partner with Nikas at Quinn, Emanual, Urquhart & Sullivan, Spiro works on white collar and government enforcement cases as well as sports and entertainment litigation. He previously served as a Manhattan prosecutor, having a hand in the conviction of two notorious killers. His client list while in private practice has included Elon Musk, Jay-Z and Robert Kraft, owner of the New England Patriots.

MARY MARLOWE SOMMER — Her decades-long career has included work as a law clerk, a defense attorney and a hearing officer who handled thousands of cases involving domestic violence and family matters. In 2010, Marlowe Sommer was appointed to the First Judicial District Court by then-New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson. When sentencing Gutierrez-Reed in April, the judge told the defendant that anything less than the maximum sentence would not be appropriate, citing what she called recklessness. If Gutierrez-Reed's trial is any indication, Marlowe Sommer will keep the attorneys on track and on schedule in what will be a high-profile proceeding.

FILE - This aerial photo shows the Bonanza Creek Ranch in Santa Fe, N.M, Oct. 23, 2021, used for the film "Rust." (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)

FILE - David Halls, former first assistant director on "Rust," testifies about the fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins by Alec Baldwin during a 2021 rehearsal, during Hannah Gutierrez-Reed's involuntary manslaughter trial in state district court in Santa Fe, N.M., Feb. 29, 2024. (Gabriela Campos/Santa Fe New Mexican via AP, Pool/File)

FILE - Director Joel Souza testifies in the trial against Hannah Gutierrez-Reed in state district court in Santa Fe, N.M., on Friday, March 1, 2024. Gutierrez-Reed was working as the armorer on the movie "Rust" when actor Alec Baldwin fatally shot cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and wounded Souza. (Eddie Moore/Albuquerque Journal via AP, Pool/File)

FILE - Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, the former armorer for the Western film "Rust," listens to closing arguments in her trial at district court, Wednesday, March 6, 2024, in Santa Fe, N.M. The movie weapons armorer is appealing her conviction for involuntary manslaughter in the fatal shooting of a cinematographer by Alec Baldwin on the set. (Luis Sánchez Saturno/Santa Fe New Mexican via AP, Pool, File)

FILE - Actor Alec Baldwin attends the premiere of "The Boss Baby" at AMC Loews Lincoln Square on Monday, March 20, 2017, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File)

MASNAA BORDER CROSSING, Lebanon (AP) — Powerful new explosions rocked Beirut's southern suburbs late Saturday as Israel expanded its bombardment in Lebanon, also striking a Palestinian refugee camp deep in the north for the first time as it targeted both Hezbollah and Hamas fighters.

Thousands of people in Lebanon, including Palestinian refugees, continued to flee the widening conflict in the region, while rallies were held around the world marking the approaching anniversary of the start of the war in Gaza.

The strong explosions began near midnight and continued into Sunday after Israel's military urged residents to evacuate areas in Dahiyeh, the predominantly Shiite collection of suburbs on Beirut’s southern edge. AP video showed the blasts illuminating the densely populated southern suburbs, where Hezbollah has a strong presence. They followed a day of sporadic strikes and the nearly continuous buzz of reconnaissance drones.

Israel's military confirmed it was striking targets near Beirut and said about 30 projectiles had crossed from Lebanon into Israeli territory, with some intercepted.

The strikes reportedly targeted a building near a road leading to Lebanon’s only international airport, and another building formerly used by the Hezbollah-run broadcaster Al-Manar. Social media reports claimed that one of the strikes hit an oxygen tank storage facility, but this was later denied by the owner of the company Khaled Kaddouha.

Shortly thereafter, Hezbollah claimed in a statement that it successfully targeted a group of Israeli soldiers near the Manara settlement in northern Israel “with a large rocket salvo, hitting them accurately.”

On Saturday, Israel's attack on the northern Beddawi camp killed an official with Hamas’ military wing along with his wife and two young daughters, the Palestinian militant group said. Hamas later said another military wing member was killed in Israeli strikes in Lebanon’s eastern Bekaa Valley. The aftermath showed smashed buildings, scattered bricks and stairways to nowhere.

Israel has killed several Hamas officials in Lebanon since the Israel-Hamas war began , in addition to most of the top leadership of the Lebanon-based Hezbollah as fighting has sharply escalated.

At least 1,400 Lebanese, including civilians, medics and Hezbollah fighters, have been killed and 1.2 million driven from their homes in less than two weeks. Israel says it aims to drive the militant group away from shared borders so displaced Israelis can return to their homes.

Iranian-backed Hezbollah, the strongest armed force in Lebanon, began firing rockets into Israel almost immediately after Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack, calling it a show of support for the Palestinians. Hezbollah and Israel's military have traded fire almost daily.

Last week, Israel launched what it called a limited ground operation into southern Lebanon after a series of attacks killed longtime Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and others. The fighting is the worst since Israel and Hezbollah fought a brief war in 2006. Nine Israeli soldiers have been killed in the ground clashes that Israel says have killed 440 Hezbollah fighters.

Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, told reporters in Damascus that “we are trying to reach a cease-fire in Gaza and in Lebanon.” The minister said the unnamed countries putting forward initiatives include regional states and some outside the Middle East.

Araghchi spoke a day after the supreme leader of Iran praised its recent missile strikes on Israel and said it was ready to do it again if necessary.

On Saturday evening, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said “Israel has the duty and the right to defend itself and respond to these attacks, and it will do so.” On Lebanon, he said ”we are not done yet."

Israel’s military earlier Saturday said about 90 projectiles were fired from Lebanon into Israeli territory. Most were intercepted, but several fell in the northern Arab town of Deir al-Asad, where police said three people were lightly injured.

At least six people in Lebanon were killed in more than a dozen Israeli airstrikes overnight and into Saturday, according to the Lebanese state-run National News Agency.

Nearly 375,000 people have fled from Lebanon into Syria in less than two weeks, according to a Lebanese government committee.

Associated Press journalists saw hundreds continuing to cross the Masnaa Border Crossing on foot, crunching over the rubble after Israeli airstrikes left huge craters in the road leading to it on Thursday. Much of Hezbollah’s weaponry is believed to come from Iran through Syria.

“We were on the road for two days,” said Issa Hilal, one of many Syrian refugees in Lebanon who are now heading back. “The roads were very crowded … it was very difficult. We almost died getting here." Some children whimpered or cried.

Other displaced families now shelter alongside Beirut’s famous seaside Corniche, their wind-flapped tents just steps from luxury homes. “We don’t care if we die, but we don’t want to die at the hands of Netanyahu,” said Om Ali Mcheik.

The Israeli military said special forces were carrying out ground raids against Hezbollah infrastructure in southern Lebanon. It said troops dismantled tunnel shafts that Hezbollah used to approach the Israeli border.

Almost 42,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza during the war, according to the Health Ministry there, which does not differentiate between civilian and militant deaths. Almost 90% of Gaza’s residents are displaced, amid widespread destruction.

Palestinian medical officials said Israeli strikes in northern and central Gaza on Saturday killed at least nine people. One in the northern town of Beit Hanoun killed at least five, including two children, according to Gaza's Health Ministry. Another hit a house in the Nuseirat refugee camp, killing at least four, Awda hospital said.

Israel's military did not have any immediate comment but has long accused Hamas of operating from within civilian areas.

An Israeli airstrike killed two children in Gaza City’s Zaytoun neighborhood, according to the civil defense first responders’ group that operates under the Hamas-run government.

Israel's military warned Palestinians to evacuate along the strategic Netzarim corridor in central Gaza that was at the heart of obstacles to a cease-fire deal. The military told people in parts of the Nuseirat and Bureij refugee camps to evacuate to Muwasi, a coastal area it has designated a humanitarian zone.

It’s unclear how many Palestinians are in those areas. Israeli forces have often returned to areas in Gaza to target Hamas fighters as they regroup.

Mroue reported from Beirut and Lidman from Tel Aviv, Israel.

Find more of AP’s coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war

Flames and smoke rise from an Israeli airstrike in Dahiyeh, Beirut, Lebanon, early Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

Flames rise from an Israeli airstrike in Dahiyeh, Beirut, Lebanon, early Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

Flames and smoke rise from an Israeli airstrike in Dahiyeh, Beirut, Lebanon, early Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

Flames and smoke rise from an Israeli airstrike in Dahiyeh, Beirut, Lebanon, early Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

Flames and smoke rise from an Israeli airstrike in Dahiyeh, Beirut, Lebanon, early Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

Flames and smoke rise from an Israeli airstrike in Dahiyeh, Beirut, Lebanon, early Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

Flames and smoke rise from an Israeli airstrike in Dahiyeh, Beirut, Lebanon, early Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

Flames and smoke rise from an Israeli airstrike in Dahiyeh, Beirut, Lebanon, early Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

Flames and smoke rise from an Israeli airstrike in Dahiyeh, Beirut, Lebanon, early Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

Billboards with a picture of the late Lebanon's Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah are displayed on a Beirut airport highway, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

People take part in a performance during a protest against Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government and call for the release of hostages held in the Gaza Strip by the Hamas militant group, in Tel Aviv, Israel, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

A man rides his bicycle next to a billboard with information about upcoming events marking the one-year anniversary of the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel, in Tel Aviv, Israel, on Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

Vehicles drive past a billboard showing the late Iranian Revolutionary Guard Gen. Qassem Soleimani, who was killed in Iraq in a U.S. drone attack in 2020, kissing forehead of slain Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

People carry their luggage as they cross into Syria on foot, through a crater caused by Israeli airstrikes aiming to block Beirut-Damascus highway at the Masnaa crossing, in the eastern Bekaa Valley, Lebanon, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

A journalist documents the damaged buildings at the site of an Israeli airstrike, in the village of Temnin, Bekaa Valley, eastern Lebanon, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

People carry their luggage as they cross into Syria on foot, through a crater caused by Israeli airstrikes aiming to block Beirut-Damascus highway at the Masnaa crossing, in the eastern Bekaa Valley, Lebanon, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

People carry their luggage as they cross into Syria on foot, through a crater caused by Israeli airstrikes aiming to block Beirut-Damascus highway at the Masnaa crossing, in the eastern Bekaa Valley, Lebanon, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

People carry their luggage as they cross into Syria on foot, through a crater caused by Israeli airstrikes aiming to block Beirut-Damascus highway at the Masnaa crossing, in the eastern Bekaa Valley, Lebanon, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

A family cross into Syria on foot, through a crater caused by Israeli airstrikes aiming to block Beirut-Damascus highway at the Masnaa crossing, in the eastern Bekaa Valley, Lebanon, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

Families cross into Syria on foot, through a crater caused by Israeli airstrikes aiming to block Beirut-Damascus highway at the Masnaa crossing, in the eastern Bekaa Valley, Lebanon, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

People carry their luggage as they cross into Syria on foot, through a crater caused by Israeli airstrikes aiming to block Beirut-Damascus highway at the Masnaa crossing, in the eastern Bekaa Valley, Lebanon, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

A girl who was wounded in an Israeli airstrike, lies in Rayak Hospital, in the village of Rayak, Bekaa Valley, eastern Lebanon, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

People carry their luggage as they cross into Syria on foot, through a crater caused by Israeli airstrikes aiming to block Beirut-Damascus highway at the Masnaa crossing, in the eastern Bekaa Valley, Lebanon, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

A firefighter works to extinguish a fire after a rocket, fired from Lebanon, hit an area next to a road near Kiryat Shmona, northern Israel, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

Smoke rises from a fire in southern Lebanon as seen from northern Israel, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

A firefighter works to extinguish a fire after a rocket, fired from Lebanon, hit an area next to a road near Kiryat Shmona, northern Israel, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

Israeli Iron Dome air defense system fires to intercept rockets that were launched from Lebanon, in northern Israel, Friday, Oct. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

Smoke rises following Israeli bombardment in southern Lebanon as seen from northern Israel, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

An Israeli Apache helicopter fires a missile towards southern Lebanon as seen from northern Israel, Friday, Oct. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

Smoke rises after Israeli airstrikes in Dahiyeh, Beirut, Lebanon, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

Smoke rises after Israeli airstrikes in Dahiyeh, Beirut, Lebanon, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)