STORY: The inner workings of a Colt .45 revolver used on the set of the movie "Rust"...
... will become the focus for Alec Baldwin's manslaughter trial.
The actor was seen leaving court in Santa Fe on Tuesday, after a jury of 12 was chosen.
Opening statements are set to begin Wednesday, nearly three years after Baldwin pointed his gun at cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the New Mexico set.
Her death was Hollywood's first on-set shooting fatality in three decades, and sparked calls to end the use of real firearms on movie sets.
In a pivotal interview with ABC News' George Stephanopoulos in 2021, Baldwin said he did NOT pull the revolver's trigger, and only cocked it.
A gun historian told Reuters Baldwin's best defense may be to sow doubts about the workings of the pistol.
An FBI examination found the gun worked normally and would not fire at full cock without the trigger pulled, but the gun was destroyed during testing. The actor's lawyers said that left them with no way to prove it was modified.
State prosecutors filed charges afterwards, alleging Baldwin was lying about the trigger.
Baldwin's legal team last year countered with photographic evidence someone filed down the full-cock notch of the long Colt .45 after it was supplied brand new to the production, to make it easier to fire.
They say it allowed a mechanical failure or "accidental discharge" without a trigger pull.
Whether the revolver was modified, legal experts see an uphill battle for the prosecution to prove Baldwin knew he could kill Hutchins but showed willful disregard to the risk - the level of criminal negligence required for an involuntary manslaughter conviction.
