Rust production wanted to fire ‘difficult to work with’ armourer before Alec Baldwin shooting
“Rust” first assistant director David Halls testified during the trial, and choked up when he recalled the shooting of Halyna Hutchins
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“Rust” prop master Sarah Zachry testified during the trial and admitted to a defence attorney that she had previously voiced a desire to both fire Hannah Gutierrez-Reed and — after the shooting of Halyna Hutchins — see her sent to prison.
After the cross-exam, Ms Zachry told the prosection that the armourer was not easy to work with and confirmed that Gutierrez-Reed had called her a “c***,” which the prosecution argued is likely why Ms Zachry wanted to fire her.
Gutierrez-Reed is facing involuntary manslaughter charges in the fatal shooting of Ms Hutchins. Actor and producer Alec Baldwin is also facing involuntary manslaughter charges related to the shooting. His trial will begin on 9 July.
The prosecution seeks to prove that Gutierrez-Reed was negligent in her duties on set and that proper protocol was in place during the investigation of the shooting. The state claims the armourer was “sloppy” and had left guns unattended on the set.
Gutierrez-Reed is also facing an evidence tampering charge for allegedly asking a friend to hide cocaine for her while police were investigating the shooting.
Gutierrez-Reed faces up to three years in prison if she is convicted.
Bodycam footage reveals Rust armourer’s reaction after Alec Baldwin shooting: ‘I just f***** up my entire career’
Body camera footage obtained from the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office showed Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, the armourer on the set of Rust, lamenting her career in the hours after director of photography Halyna Hutchins was fatally shot on set.
Sante Fe County Sheriff’s Detective Alexandria Hancock was shown escorting Ms Gutierrez-Reed to the bathroom on the day of the shooting. On their walk to the bathroom Ms Gutierrez-Reed told her, “Welcome to the worst day of my life.”
She later expressed shock that actor and producer Baldwin was the one who was holding the gun.
“I can’t believe Alec Baldwin was holding the gun, that’s so f*****,” she says.
READ MORE:
Armourer in ‘Rust’ trial laments end of career during Halyna Hutchins shooting trial
‘I just want to get the f*** out of here and never show my face in this industry again,’ Ms Gutierrez-Reed said
Courtroom chaos has plagued the trial
The court called for its afternoon break just after the stenographer’s machine broke, requiring engineers to be brought in before the trial can continue.
The trial thus far has had a number of strange hiccups that have affected the proceeding. On the first day, one of the jurors was involved in a car accident on the way to court, which forced the trial to delay opening statements for a few hours. Video and image components of the trial have frequently faltered and required technicians to fix, and at one point Hannah Gutierrez-Reed’s cell phone number was leaked.
People watching livestreams of the trial via CourtTV copied down her number and some began to send her harassing text messages, which may have contributed to the trial ending several hours early on one of the hearing days.
The court is currently on break, and will return around 12:30 local time, 2:30 EST, assuming no further tech issues prevent its continuation.
The trial has resumed — Gutierrez-Reed is seen on videos saying she wanted to train with Alec Baldwin but producers shut it down
The trial has resumed after an afternoon break and tech failure.
Video of Hannah Gutierrez-Reed speaking with investigators is still being shown to the jury.
During the video, Gutierrez-Reed said she wanted to do more firearms training with star and producer Alec Baldwin, which he reportedly agreed to do, but said the trianing was shut down by the film’s producers.
‘What the f*** that’s insane’: Hannah Gutierrez-Reed reacts to ammo revelation
Hannah Gutierrez-Reed reacts with shock when she learns that the casing of the bullet fired in the Halyna Hutchins shooting used components from a company that only produces bullet components — which are often used on film sets — and not live ammo.
The casings produced by the ammunition company can be “reloaded” and made into live rounds.
If a reloaded Starline Brass bullet was mixed with dummy ammunition using the same casings, they would be difficult to tell apart from one another without checking the individual bullet to ensure it is not live.
“What the f***, that’s insane,” Gutierrez-Reed said when she was shown the photos of the casings.
Gutierrez-Reed says she ‘never, not once’ used live ammunition on set
Hannah Gutierrez-Reed told investigators during a 9 November 2021 interview that she “never, not once” used live ammuniton on set, and said that the crew never went shooting with the set weapons.
She said the crew would have “been stoked” to take the guns out and go shooting.
Detective says Hannah Gutierrez-Reed loaded the gun that killed Halyna Hutchins
Santa Fe County Sheriff’s detective Alexandria Hancock said Hannah Gutierrez-Reed told her she had loaded the gun used by Alec Baldwin in the shooting of Halyna Hutchins.
Defence cross-examines Santa Fe County Detective Alexandria Hancock
Defense attorney Jason Bowles is cross-exmaining a Santa Fe County Sheriff’s detective who interviewed Hannah Gutierrez-Reed in the aftermath of the fatal shooting of Halyna Hutchins.
The defence is questioning statements she made during her testimony against earlier statements she told the judge regarding whether or not Gutierrez-Reed loaded Alec Baldwin’s revolver over her ammunition cart.
They reached an impasse, and Mr Bowles asked Ms Hancock to find a timestamp for when Gutierrez-Reed said she loaded the revolver over her prop cart.
Defence attorney questions source of found ammunition, revisits ‘sabotage’ angle
Defence attorney Jason Bowles asked Santa Fe County Sheriff’s detective Alexandria Hancock if she remembers where Hannah Gutierrez-Reed said she received the ammunition used on the “Rust” set.
Gutierrez-Reed, in her first interview, said Seth Kenny, who provided the set with some of its ammunition, gave her the ammunition used during the shooting day.
Mr Bowles also asked Ms Hancock if she used a “ruse” to trick Gutierrez-Reed when her and another officer sat to talk with the armourer and asked if anyone on the camera crew — which walked off set the previous evening — would have reason to have sabotage the set.
He asked if she ever believed that theory, and she said no. She also insisted that they weren’t proposing a theory, but asking probing questions to learn more about the condition of the production.
Defence asks why detective didn’t record all of her calls with Alec Baldwin
Jason Bowles, who is representing Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, asked why Santa Fe County Sheriff’s detective Alexandria Hancock did not record all of her phone calls with Alec Baldwin, noting that he was a suspect in the shooting case of Halyna Hutchins.
Ms Hancock said she did not record all of their phone calls and is not required to under protocol. She said that recording equipment is not always available when phone calls occur.
Mr Bowles has been trying to make a case that Baldwin received different treatment from law enforcement than Gutierrez-Reed did during the investigation. During opening arguments he called Gutierrez-Reed an “easy target” and a “scapegoat” for Baldwin and the film’s production. He has stated that Baldwin is to blame for the shooting of Ms Hutchins.
Judge calls for a break after defence and prosecutors bicker
The judge has called for a recess in the “Rust” shooting trial after the defence and prosecutors bickered about a piece of evidence.
Jason Bowles, the defence attorney questioning Santa Fe County Sheriff’s detective Alexandria Hancock, requested her to recall specific comments made during an interview with Hannah Gutierrez-Reed.
The prosecutors have objected to the defence’s line of questioning on the grounds that Ms Hancock either did not know certain information because she was not on set the day of the shooting or that the information in question is already entered to evidence in transcripts and should be reviewed that way.
“I’ve let you have your coffee, let’s focus here,” the judge said, trying to recentre the trial.
The defence continued and a prosecutor laughed at his question, leading Mr Bowles to ask if something was funny.
The judge then intervened again and called for the recess.