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.
Trial recap: Gutierrez-Reed says she’s ‘not sure’ how a live round got into one of her ammo boxes
The court saw video footage taken from Hannah Gutierrez-Reed’s discussions with investigators.
She said that on the day of the shooting, she picked up a box of dummy ammunition and shook them to hear the “jingle.”
Dummy rounds are often hollow with a ball bearing inside to indicate they are not live rounds. The prosecution argued that Gutierrez-Reed would not have been able to ascertain that every round in the box was a dummy round.
Gutierrez-Reed later said she loaded every round into the revolver Alec Baldwin would ultimately use to shoot Halyna Hutchins. When investigators asked how that could be since a live round wound up in the car, Gutierrez-Reed said she did not know.
Trial recap: ‘Rust’ dolly grip gives emotional recollection of on-set shooting
During his testimony on Monday, ‘Rust’ dolly grip Ross Addiego, became emotional as he recalled the moments after the shooting on the film’s set.
His voice faltering slightly, he told the court: “She was quite clearly injured... [she was] starting to go flush and holding her right side.”
“Joel [Souza] let out some scream to indicate that he was also injured,” he said.
Mr Addiego said that he had attended to Mr Souza, the director of the film, before he and other crew members had moved a church pew so that they could lay Hutchins on the floor. He recalled telling the director to “get the f*** out of here,” and someone else had called 911.
He added that he had not heard “anything verbal” from Hutchins, just groans of pain.
“They were trying to stbilise her to get her in a helicopter to get her to whatever ER they thought was appropriate,” he said, again with a trembling voice.
At one point Mr Addiego took off his glasses to wipe his eyes.
WATCH: Fatal 'Rust' shooting goes to trial
ICYMI: Alec Baldwin formally charged with involuntary manslaughter over Rust shooting
Alec Baldwin has been formally charged with involuntary manslaughter over the fatal shooting of Rust cinematographer Halyna Hutchins during a rehearsal on the New Mexico film set in 2021.
Prosecutors filed the felony charges against the actor, who allegedly pointed a gun at Hutchins that went off and fatally shot her, on Tuesday (31 January), according to Albuquerque TV station KOAT.
Hutchins died after being struck by a live bullet at Bonanza Creek Ranch on the outskirts of Santa Fe, New Mexico, on 21 October 2021. Joel Souza, the director of the film Rust, was also shot and injured but survived the incident.
READ MORE:
Alec Baldwin formally charged with involuntary manslaughter over Rust shooting
Actor has denied that he pulled trigger of weapon during rehearsal on New Mexico set in 2021
Alec Baldwin to stand trial this summer on a charge stemming from deadly ‘Rust’ movie set shooting
A New Mexico judge has set a trial date for Alec Baldwin on an involuntary manslaughter charge stemming from a deadly shooting on the set of the movie “Rust.”
Read the full story here:
Alec Baldwin to stand trial this summer on a charge stemming from deadly 'Rust' movie set shooting
A New Mexico judge has set a trial date for Alec Baldwin on an involuntary manslaughter charge stemming from a deadly shooting on the set of the movie “Rust.”
Alec Baldwin, an armourer and an assistant director: Who was charged in Rust shooting death of Halyna Hutchins?
Alec Baldwin and two crew members were charged over the fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of Rust in January, after an exhaustive 15 month investigation.
Then on Thursday 20 April, weeks before the trial was due to begin, Baldwin’s attorneys announced a charge of involuntary manslaughter had been dismissed.
Rust armourer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed was also facing a charge of involuntary manslaughter, while first assistant director David Halls has agreed to plead guilty to the charge of negligent use of a deadly weapon.
READ MORE:
Who was charged in Rust shooting death of Halyna Hutchins?
A grand jury indcited Baldwin on involuntary manslaughter charges in January, months after previous charges were dropped, writes Bevan Hurley
Trial recap: 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.
‘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.
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
Witness describes the pressure on armourers on movie sets
The state called Byran Carpenter, a Hollywood armourer, to testify on Thursday morning.
Mr Carpenter said that armourers were one of only three individuals who could completely bring a movie set to a stop. He explained that the longer a production spends shooting a film, the more money it spends, so there is incentive to rush productions.
He said the pressure to film quickly often clashes with the time needed for armourers to ensure a set is safe, but that armourers have to be firm and demand safety in order to do their jobs well.
Hannah Gutierrez-Reed’s defence team is arguing that the “Rust” production was rushed and that she was not given the time she needed to do her job.
The state is trying to estalish that, as armourer, Gutierrez-Reed should have used her on-set authority to demand that filming slow down to adhere to safety standards.