Lead detective in Alec Baldwin case to testify, convicted armorer may be called in ‘Rust’ trial
SANTA FE, NM — The lead detective in the shooting of camerawoman Halyna Hutchins on the set of the film “Rust” will likely spend most of Friday in the stands Alec Baldwin during his involuntary manslaughter trial in New Mexico, where prosecutors attempt to portray the movie star as a reckless, arrogant man with a gun in his hand, while the defense tries to portray him as a working actor just doing his job.
Corporal Alexandria Hancock of the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office did not become the lead investigator until two weeks after the October 2021 shooting, but she conducted the first interviews with Baldwin, the gunmaker of “Rust.” Hannah Gutierrez-Reed and Assistant Director David Halls, the three individuals criminally charged in the case.
Hancock took the stand briefly late Thursday and will continue her direct examination by the prosecution on Friday. She will then likely face lengthy questioning by the defense, who are trying to poke holes in an investigation they say unfairly targeted Baldwin.
Before Hancock took the stand, Italian gunmaker Alessandro Pietta testified Thursday about quality control issues in the manufacturing process of the gun that was ultimately obtained by an Albuquerque gun and ammunition supplier to “Rust” and handled by Baldwin in the fatal shooting. It was shipped in 2017, and Pietta last examined the weapon in 2018 through a sales and distribution company.
The gun’s provenance and its use at trade shows over several years are under scrutiny. Defense attorneys worry that the weapon may have been modified or otherwise capable of going off without the trigger being pulled.
Baldwin claims the gun went off accidentally after he followed instructions to point it at Hutchins, who was standing behind the camera. Unaware it was loaded with a live round, he says he pulled the hammer back — not the trigger — and it went off.
Both Pietta and a sales representative who had the weapon in their possession as recently as September 2021 stated that the revolver was in good working order and had not been modified.
Pietta testified that the hammer on the gun only drops when the trigger is pulled.
“If you want to drop the hammer, you have to pull the trigger,” he told the courtroom.
But Pietta also noted that standard practice is to load the weapon — a remake of a 19th-century revolver — with only five rounds, not six, to ensure that the firing pin does not rest on a live round. Gun experts, including an FBI forensics expert, acknowledge that the revolver can discharge if pressure is applied to the hammer while it is resting on a live round.
Before Hancock returns to the witness stand, Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer will consider Thursday’s remarkable testimony about a “good Samaritan” who walked into a police station with what he told authorities was the cache of ammunition from which the bullet that killed Hutchins came, following the conviction earlier this year of Gutierrez-Reed for involuntary manslaughter.
The issue came up during questioning of sheriff’s crime scene technician Marissa Poppell. Baldwin attorney Alex Spiro’s questions suggested that Poppell and other authorities had been too intimate with the film’s firearms supplier, Seth Kenney, and had not sufficiently investigated whether he was responsible for the lethal ammunition that reached the set.
Spiro asked Poppell if the “Good Samaritan” had brought the ammunition to the police station, and she said he had and that she had written a report about it, denying that she had “buried” it to hide it from the defense.
Spiro asked if the man “told you all that you had been scammed by Seth Kenney.” Poppell said she couldn’t remember.
The Public Prosecution Service reacted with disdain to the suggestion that the man’s claims were legitimate.
Special prosecutor Kari Morrissey determined during her hearing that the source of the ammunition was Troy Teske, a friend of Gutierrez-Reed’s father who was motivated to shift the blame. Despite the similarities, the bullets were not the same size as the live rounds found on the set of “Rust,” including the one that killed Hutchins.
Morrissey further attempted to defend Kenney’s role in her questioning of Hancock.
“During your entire investigation, did you ever find any evidence that Seth Kenney provided live ammunition to the set of ‘Rust?’” Morrissey asked. Hancock said no.
Kenney has not been charged with any wrongdoing. An email seeking comment was not immediately returned to his attorney.
Gutierrez-Reed’s attorney said they are aware that prosecutors will attempt to call her to testify.
Attorney Jason Bowles told the Associated Press in an email that Gutierrez-Reed will invoke her Fifth Amendment rights against self-incrimination if she is called, as her conviction is still under appeal.
The judge denied a request from prosecutors to grant Gutierrez-Reed immunity for her testimony ahead of trial.
She is serving an 18-month prison sentence, the same sentence Baldwin faces if convicted.
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Dalton reported from Los Angeles.
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For more coverage of the involuntary manslaughter trial of Alec Baldwin, visit: https://apnews.com/hub/alec-baldwin