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.
Court is back, defence is cross-examining the FBI firearms expert
Court has resumed.
Hannah Gutierrez-Reed’s defence is cross-examining FBI firearms expert Bryce Ziegler, an expert witness called by the prosecutor.
Mr Ziegler said that parts of the revolver used in the shooting of Halyna Hutchins broke while he was testing the weapon to see if it would fire without the trigger being pulled.
He was cleared to test the weapon, which the state’s investigation knew could result in some damage to the firearm.
The defence is currently pushing Mr Ziegler on the status of the gun before and after he tested the weapon.
FBI firearms expert says Rust revolver ‘would not fire’ unless someone pulled the trigger
An FBI firearms expert who studied and tested the revolver used in the fatal shooting of Halyna Hutchins on the set of the film “Rust” testified that, after analysis, he determined the gun could not fire unless someone pulled the trigger.
“It would not fire without pulling the trigger in the full cock position,” FBI forensic examiner Bryce Ziegler said.
His statement contradicts the claims made by actor and producer Alec Baldwin, who had drawn the gun in the moments before the shot that killed Ms Hutchins was fired. Baldwin has insisted that he did not pull the trigger.
Mr Ziegler said he had to break the revolver using a mallet in order to force it to fire without a trigger pull.
State calls ninth witness — Shannon Prince, FBI forensic examiner who studied fingerprints left on the gun used to shoot Halyna Hutchins
Shannon Prince, a FBI forensic examiner, was called at the state’s next expert witness.
Ms Prince said she studied the latent fingerprints left on the Colt 45 replica revolver that was used in the shooting that killed Halyna Hutchins.
She said that two of the prints she pulled from the gun matched Hannah Gutierrez-Reed. She did not find latent prints from prop master Sarah Zachry or from actor Alec Baldwin, who was holding the gun when the shot was fired that killed Ms Hutchins.
Trial recesses for lunch
The involuntary manslaughter trial of Hannah Gutierrez-Reed has taken a recess for lunch.
The trial will resume around 2:30pm EST (12:30pm local time).
Trial resumes, state calls 10th witness
The trial has resumed after a lunch break.
The state has called Robert Gillette, an FBI chemic forensic examiner who is an expert in explosives.
State calls Jerrilyn Conway, FBI DNA examiner, to testify
The state has called Jerrilyn Conway, an FBI DNA examiner, as its next expert witness.
Prosecutor’s initial questioning established Ms Conway’s work and how she compiles DNA profiles based on collected evidence.
Ms Conway tested DNA collected from the Colt 45 replica revolver used in the fatal shooting of Halyna Hutchins on the set of “Rust.”
State calls Ross Addiego, dolly grip on ‘Rust’ to testify
The state has called Ross Addiego to testify.
Mr Addiego served as a dolly grip on the set of the film “Rust.” His job was to assist the camera operators on the set.
He said the production was about 10 to 12 days into filming when the fatal shooting of Halyna Hutchins occured.
Mr Addiego said he had been on at least a dozen or more film productions that used armourers on their sets.
When asked what the duties and responsibilities of an armourer are on a film set, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed’s defence attorney objected, and a short side-bar occurred.
Once the side-bar concluded, the prosecution continued that line of questioning, and Mr Addiego said the armourer is in “control” of deadly firearms and ammunition.
The defence has raised three objections to the prosecution’s questions regarding Mr Addiego’s understanding of industry protocol with regard to armourers.
‘Rust’ dolly grip says Gutierrez-Reed rarely loaded guns in front of cast and crew, which he said was unusual
Ross Addiego, dolly grip on ‘Rust’, said that the film’s armourer, Hannah Guttierez-Reed, rarely loaded the firearms used on set in front of the cast and crew.
He said that in his experience, most armourers he’s worked with load the weapons in the presence of the individuals involved with shooting the scene. He said the only exception was that when Guttierez-Reed was “rushed” to reload a weapon to quickly re-shoot a scene.
When asked if other armourers had previously asked to slow down the production pace to ensure they had time to properly load and ensure a firearm is safe for shooting a scene, he said they had.
When asked if Guttierez-Reed had taken steps to slow down production to provide her more time to ensure firearms were safe, he said he did not see her do so.
He also named actor Alec Baldwin, who was also a producer on the film, as being the one who would have been the one trying to speed up production.
‘Rust’ dolly grip details ‘accidental discharges’ of guns while filming the western
Ross Addiego, a dolly grip who worked on the film ‘Rust’, said he was on set during “accidentaly discharges” of firearms.
He said on one occasion, the prop master Sarah Zachry, was either loading or unloading a gun that discharged. He said he was present for the discharge, and said the cast was “spooked” by the sound of gun going off.
He said he had never been on another movie set on which the prop master loaded or unloaded weapons.
Mr Addiego said that armourers typically are always within eyesight of weapons used in a scene, but said that was not the case during the filming of “Rust.”
Mr Addiego described a second accidental discharge that occurred during a scene in which a prop shotgun fired before it was supposed to do so.
When asked if he had experienced accidental firearm discharges on other film projects, he said he had not.