Alec Baldwin arrives at court for pretrial hearing over fatal shooting of cinematographer

A New Mexico judge is setting the table for the involuntary manslaughter trial of actor Alec Baldwin, who arrived at court Monday over a fatal shooting on the set of the Western movie 'Rust.'

A New Mexico judge is setting the table for the involuntary manslaughter trial of actor Alec Baldwin, who arrived at court Monday over a fatal shooting on the set of the Western movie "Rust."

Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer ruled that evidence won't be allowed at trial about Baldwin's secondary role as a co-producer of the film, siding with defence attorneys.

"I'm having real difficulty with the state's position that they want to show that as a producer he didn't follow guidelines and therefore as an actor Mr. Baldwin did all of these things wrong that resulted in the death of Ms. Hutchins because as a producer he allowed these things to happen," Marlowe Sommer said. "I'm denying evidence of his status as a producer."

Special prosecutor Erlinda Johnson argued unsuccessfully to allow evidence that Baldwin's "role as a producer made him keenly aware of his responsibilities on set" for safety. "It goes to Mr. Baldwin's knowledge, knowing that his conduct on set was negligent," she said.

In the courtroom Monday, Baldwin sat between lead attorneys Luke Nikas and Alex Spiro. He thumbed briefly through papers with a yellow legal pad in front of him, wearing glasses and close-cropped hair.

The trial starts July 9 with jury selection and is scheduled to last 10 days.

Last week, the judge cleared the way for crucial firearms experts for the prosecution to testify about Baldwin's handling of the revolver and whether the gun was functioning properly prior to the fatal shooting.