Alec Baldwin talks on the phone in a parking lot outside the Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office after being questioned about a shooting on the set of the film “Lust” outside Santa Fe, New Mexico, Thursday, Oct. 21, 2021. Authorities said Baldwin fired a prop gun on the set, killing cinematographer Halina Hutchins and wounding director Joel Souza. (Jim Weber/Santa Fe New Mexican via The Associated Press)
Alec Baldwin wasn't the only celebrity to appear in a New Mexico courtroom Monday morning.
The controversial actor was there the day before he is due to stand trial on charges of manslaughter in the shooting death of cinematographer Halina Hutchins on a film set.
Baldwin, on the defense, was flanked by a panel of elite lawyers as they argued final motions before Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer of New Mexico's First Judicial District Court over what evidence can be presented during the trial.
One of the team's lead lawyers is Alex Spiro, one of the most well-known litigation lawyers in the United States and a celebrity in his own right having represented A-list clients including Elon Musk, Jay-Z, Robert Kraft and Megan Thee Stallion, according to a 2023 profile in The New Yorker.
Spiro, 41, a Harvard Law School graduate, “has specialized in protecting the rich and famous from the consequences of their stupidest decisions,” he wrote in a profile titled “How Alex Spiro keeps the rich and famous above the law.”
As Monday's hearing progressed, Spiro left most of the motions to Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan partner Luke Nikas. But Spiro is known for his preference for trial work, and he may end up taking on a more prominent role after the trial begins on Tuesday, given that The New Yorker reports that the former Manhattan prosecutor prefers to conduct opening statements, closing statements and most cross-examinations himself.
Spiro is known for his “outspoken charm that captivates clients and juries,” his “combative style” and his “aggressive” witness questioning, which he likens to painting a “picture” and telling a “compelling, interwoven story,” according to The New Yorker and The Associated Press. His success in high-profile cases has made him the go-to lawyer for A-list entertainers and business leaders.
For example, he successfully defended Musk in a defamation lawsuit brought by a British cave explorer in Thailand who the Tesla CEO mistakenly called a “pedophile” on Twitter in 2018. At the time, they were both trying to figure out how to rescue members of a youth soccer team trapped in a flooded cave. Spiro has since become part of Musk's “inner circle” and “go-to lawyer,” especially during the company's 2022 acquisition of Twitter, which saw the company implement mass layoffs and reduce the San Francisco-based social media platform's staff by up to 50% in a matter of days.
But that legal representation isn't cheap, and it's reportedly become a problem for Baldwin: Since Hutchins' death, the 66-year-old veteran film and TV star has lost work opportunities, said his “financial outlook continues to darken,” and “has begun shifting some of his real estate assets,” The New York Times reported last month.
Baldwin supports his controversial influencer wife, Hilaria Baldwin, and their seven young children, and the family has announced an upcoming reality TV show depicting their busy lives. The Emmy Award-winning “30 Rock” star is also shouldering mounting legal costs related to the death of Hutchins, which occurred during rehearsals for the Western film “Rust.” Baldwin was handling a gun and pointing it in Hutchins' direction when the gun accidentally discharged a live round, killing the cinematographer and injuring director Joel Souza.
Among Baldwin's many challenges is that he is “several months behind” in paying his share of a multimillion-dollar civil settlement owed to Hutchins' family in a wrongful death lawsuit filed by Hutchins' husband in 2022, an attorney for Hutchins' husband told The New York Times.
Meanwhile, Politico reported that Spiro billed one client, JPMorgan Chase, $2,025 per hour in 2023 for work on a fraud case. The bank argued that he was charging too much, but Spiro's high hourly rate has been a controversy in the city since reports broke in April that New York City had hired Spiro to represent Mayor Eric Adams in a lawsuit accusing Adams of sexually assaulting a fellow city employee in 1993. Taxpayers are footing the bill for Spiro's services, even though the city claims it received a steep discount, according to Politico.
Spiro works out of the Miami office of his law firm, which has 33 offices around the world, The New Yorker reported. There, Spiro has more than 100 staff members and handles about 50 cases at a time. The New Yorker also reported that a large case can involve four partners, eight lawyers under them, and several paralegals, researchers and investigators.
Spiro calls his legal team “the cavalry,” The New Yorker reported. They do much of the day-to-day preparation, such as writing briefs. But once the trial begins, Spiro is known to take on a key role, as he told The New Yorker he likens the courtroom atmosphere to “being in my swimming pool.”
The New Yorker described him as having “undeniable charm in the courtroom.” Spiro said his “secret sauce” was a photographic memory. “That, plus three and a half hours of sleep a day and the ability to process information quickly,” he told The New Yorker. “Without those things, I would have had zero chance of survival.”
Spiro, a trial lawyer known for being “savvy at jury selection,” said he would look for people he could “invite to coffee and convince them of my views.” Jury selection for Baldwin's trial is scheduled to begin on Tuesday. Jurors will be drawn from Santa Fe County, but some legal experts say local jurors may not be easily swayed by Baldwin's celebrity or the arguments of his high-paying New York lawyers.
However, prosecutors have a hurdle to overcome in proving Baldwin guilty of manslaughter. If found guilty, he could be sentenced to 18 months in prison, The Guardian reports. Prosecutors will need to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Baldwin was negligent in using the gun and acted with total disregard or indifference to the safety of others. They are expected to argue that he brought recklessness to the production.
For reasons that remain a mystery, the revolver Baldwin was handling during rehearsals with Hutchins and Souza was laced with live ammunition. In March, the film's gunsmith, Hannah Gutierrez Reed, was convicted of manslaughter after prosecutors alleged she failed to follow basic safety procedures and laced the gun with one live round along with an imitation round. In April, she was sentenced to 18 months in prison.
Spiro and other lawyers for Baldwin are trying to show that it is not the actor's job to make sure the guns are not loaded with live ammunition, and Baldwin has told investigators he was informed the guns were safe to use.
According to the Associated Press, Baldwin's defense team also plans to attack the gun evidence and the significant damage that occurred to the revolver during FBI testing, arguing that the evidence was destroyed before the defense could have an expert examine it.
Baldwin said in a 2021 ABC News interview that he never pulled the trigger on the revolver, and he alluded to it in his police interview. But according to the Associated Press, the jury will hear testimony from a firearms expert who will argue that the revolver was in working order and could not have fired without the trigger being pulled. Also, crew member Zach Sneesby, who held a boom microphone during rehearsals, could be a key witness, and according to the Associated Press, he will testify that he saw Baldwin pull the trigger.
Read more at The Mercury News
