Rust’s assistant director expected to testify AGAINST Alec Baldwin and the gunsmith
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Rust’s assistant director is expected to testify against Alec Baldwin when the star faces trial on manslaughter charges following the shooting death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on set in October 2021.
Prosecutors obtained testimony from David Halls in his case against Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, the gunsmith for Baldwin and Rust, Variety reports. Baldwin accidentally shot and killed Hutchins after he was given a loaded gun during filming.
Previous witnesses have said Halls handed the gun to Baldwin and declared it a “cold weapon” despite the presence of live ammunition in the chamber, according to a search warrant. ‘Cold Gun’ is a term used on sets to notify that live ammunition is not being used.
In a December statement to the New Mexico Office of Occupational Safety and Health, Halls denied giving the gun to Baldwin and said he gave it to Gutierrez-Reed. He also accused Gutierrez-Reed of declaring ‘cold gun’.
Halls also likened Hutchins’ death to a plane crash in that it was not the fault of any one person but rather “a system failure”.
David Halls, the first assistant director on the set of Rust, is likely to testify against Alec Baldwin
By November, Baldwin had launched a lawsuit against Halls, as well as other production staff.
Halls signed a plea agreement for the negligent use of a deadly weapon in the case that included six months of probation.
The New Mexico Office of Occupational Safety and Health launched a lawsuit against Rust producers following the shooting.
Halls told the statement that she had “no recollection” of saying “cold gun,” adding: “I remember Hannah saying it.”
It’s like what they say about a plane crash. It’s like it’s not one thing, you know. It is a system failure.
Heather Brewer, a spokeswoman for the Santa Fe district attorney, said Variety, We are aware of the apparent contradictions in the testimony. However, we are confident that there is more than enough evidence to prove negligence and ensure justice for Halyna Hutchins’.
Gutierrez-Reed previously told investigators that he gave the gun to Halls without knowing it contained a live bullet. She said that she never said ‘cold gun’ on set.
She told the statement: ‘I don’t like the term ‘cold gun’. I know there was a lot of discussion on set. That was mainly Dave’s terminology.
Hutchins was the film’s cinematographer and is shown here on her Instagram page.
Baldwin has openly challenged pulling the trigger, but this contradicts an FBI analysis of the vintage Colt pistol that fired the fatal shot.
“If any of these three people, Alec Baldwin, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed or David Halls, had done their job, Halyna Hutchins would be alive today. It’s that simple,” Andrea Reeb, the special prosecutor’s appointee in the case, said earlier this month.
Baldwin has vowed to fight the charges, and the blame for who was responsible for the shooting has already been playing out in court.
In November, Baldwin filed a lawsuit against Gutierrez Reed, Halls, prop vendor Seth Kenney, and prop teacher Sarah Zachry. He alleges negligence and seeks damages to be determined at trial for the “extreme pain” he endured.
Their lawsuit follows on from an earlier lawsuit in which another crew member, Mami Mitchell, sued Baldwin and others for emotional distress and negligence for ignoring red flags about firearm safety on set. She will be allowed to claim damages against Baldwin and his production company El Dorado Pictures.
And in a third civil case, Hutchins’ widow reached an undisclosed settlement in October in the wrongful-death lawsuit brought by Baldwin et al.
FBI tests uncovered a total of five rounds of live ammunition among the movie’s prop weapons, six if you count the bullet that was fired, killing Hutchins and wounding writer-director Joel Souza.
Producer and actor Baldwin fired the prop gun (pictured) that killed one crew member and wounded another on the set of the movie ‘Rust’ in New Mexico.
The prosecutor’s case will focus primarily on the actions of Baldwin, assistant director Dave Halls, who Baldwin says gave him the gun, and gunsmith Hannah Gutierrez Reed, who was responsible for outfitting the firearms in the film.
Baldwin has openly denied pulling the trigger, but this was contradicted by an FBI analysis of the vintage Colt pistol that fired the fatal shot.
“With the firing pin at full speed, the revolver could not be fired without pulling the trigger while the internal working components were intact and functional,” according to the report.
FBI analysis confirmed that there were several other live .45 caliber ammunition present on Rust’s set the day Hutchins died, some of them disguised as other actors on the scene.
All the bullets were etched with the logo of ‘Starline Brass’, a company that supplies materials for homemade bullets.
Two loose .45 rounds were collected from the top of a utility cart. A third was in a shoulder bag used by one of the artists, and a fourth was found in a brown sheath, according to the outlet.
Hutchins died on the set of the movie ‘Rust’, after being shot by a gun held by Alec Baldwin.
The 42-year-old cinematographer was murdered on October 21, 2021 on the set of Bonanza Creek Ranch in Santa Fe during rehearsals for American Western Film.
The report did not indicate which belt belonged to which actor, but a source close to the production told Vanity Fair that the shoulder strap belonged to the character played by the Supernatural actor, Jensen Ackles, and the holster belonged to Baldwin.
The actual fifth round was found in a box of dummy ammunition, fake bullets made to look like the real thing.
This container “is the suspect box that Hannah was loading the firearm in,” the report says.
“This box contained 36 suspect dummy shells and one suspect live shell, which is the cartridge that was tested.”
It’s unclear how the bullet got into the container, but the report includes fingerprint evidence from the box.
Hannah is identified as the only person of interest with a positive latent print identification on the ammunition box.
No fingerprint analysis had been done on the bullet, something Gutierrez Reed’s attorney, Jason Bowles, disputed.
Gutierrez Reed’s father, veteran movie gunsmith Thell Reed, contacted investigators to suggest that the live ammunition may have been brought onto the set by prop vendor Seth Kenney.
Investigators searched his Albuquerque store in November 2021 to examine live rounds. Thell Reed said the provider used to train actors at a shooting range.
“Chemical tests revealed that all of the powder in these cartridges was uniform, however it did not match the cartridges collected on the Rust set,” the report stated.
Detectives examined the phones of Gutierrez Reed, Halls and other figures in the case, and messages about safety concerns prior to the shooting were also included in the report.