why are any live bullets allowed on set at all? - simple question??
AFAIK, they’re not … seemingly, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, the armourer (unqualified) was careless.
A grand jury in New Mexico has charged Alec Baldwin with a fresh count of involuntary manslaughter over a fatal movie set shooting in October 2021. Local prosecutors have since shared “additional facts” from forensic tests on the weapon used in the shooting.
Special prosecutors in New Mexico said in October that they had commissioned forensic experts to reconstruct the weapon, after it had been broken during FBI testing. They said doing so revealed that the incident could only have taken place if the trigger had been pulled.
“Although Alec Baldwin repeatedly denies pulling the trigger, given the tests, findings and observations reported here, the trigger had to be pulled or depressed sufficiently to release the fully cocked or retracted hammer of the evidence revolver,” their report concluded.
Their one-count indictment was issued on Friday under two alternative legal theories - that Mr Baldwin was either negligent in his use of a firearm or that he acted with “total disregard or indifference for the safety of others”.
Prosecutors have indicated that he can only be convicted on one of these theories, not both. If convicted, he faces up to 18 months in prison.
Hollywood actor Alec Baldwin has pleaded not guilty to involuntary manslaughter over the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.
The actor entered the not guilty plea in a court filing on Wednesday, a day before a scheduled virtual court appearance in a Santa Fe court, which will now not take place.
Armourer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed has pleaded not guilty to charges of involuntary manslaughter and tampering with evidence.
Ms Hutchins died in October 2021 after a gun that actor Alec Baldwin was holding went off on the set of the movie.
The trial, which opened on Wednesday with jury selection, is the first of the fatal shooting on a ranch outside Santa Fe, New Mexico.
In their opening statement, prosecutors described Gutierrez-Reed as negligent in handling guns and ammunition. Special prosecutor Jason Lewis told the jury there were two key questions in the case.
“The first being, what are the events that happened on the set of Rust that led to the death of Halyna Hutchins? And the second question is, how did live ammunition end up on the set of the movie?
As to both questions, we believe that it was the negligent acts and failures of the defendant, Ms Gutierrez, that resulted in both the acts that contributed to Ms Hutchins’s death and to the live rounds being brought on to the set.”Gutierrez-Reed’s defence lawyer Jason Bowles said his client was being used as a “scapegoat”. He said: “We’re here because of a tragedy, there’s no doubt, there was a tragic occurrence on that movie. But let me tell you something you already know: just because there was a tragedy, it does not mean that a crime was committed.”
In a separate case, Baldwin has pleaded not guilty to involuntary manslaughter. He has denied pulling the trigger and said he was not responsible for the death of Ms Hutchins.
No doubt all of the careless, sloppy and negligent weapons handling tecniques will be be exposed throughout the trial.
‘No-one could stand up’ to Alec Baldwin on Rust set according to crew member
Crew members have called out the “ludicrous” pace of work and how “no-one” was prepared to stand up to Alec Baldwin on the set of Rust, while a court heard about the fatal 2021 on-set shooting.
Lawyers defending Gutierrez-Reed stated the 24-year-old was at a unique disadvantage on set, being a part-time member of staff without a trade union membership on a set where few people challenged the lead actor on matters of safety and related budget.
One crew member stated there had already been two gun misfires on set before the fatal shooting and just one safety meeting took place as a result.
Testimony from the case veered towards the actor’s handling of the weapon that killed Hutchins, including a video of Baldwin twice practising a cross-draw manoeuvre shortly before the fatal shooting.
Front-line crew member Ross Addiego made an emotive statement in the court, recounting his first-person account of the fatal shooting.
“The first person I made eye contact with was Halyna, who was clearly injured. In fact, she was starting to go flush and I think holding her right side,” said Addiego, breaking into tears.
Mr Addiego described his anger at safety procedures, stating the storage cart for guns and ammunition was frequently unattended. He said before to the fatal shooting he lodged safety complaints with union representatives and the film’s top safety official.
Mr Addiego said: “At times we seemed to be working at ludicrous speeds. We always seemed to be rushed and under the gun.”
In footage shown at the trial of the film’s armourer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, Mr Baldwin is also seen telling her to reload the gun more quickly.
The footage played on Thursday showed Mr Baldwin gesticulating with a pistol loaded with blanks and firing the gun within close proximity to camera operators, the AFP news agency reported.
He was also seen asking Ms Gutierrez-Reed why she didn’t have more weapons ready.
After the director called “cut”, he said: “One more! One more! One more! Right away! Let’s reload!”
He was also heard saying: “We should have two guns and both we’re reloading.”
Prosecutors have alleged that Mr Baldwin endangered safety by rushing production.
The last person handling a firearm is always responsible for what comes out of it, period! If you don’t believe me look at hundreds of accidental shootings and the prosecution of the last person handling it. A movie set or any other workplace isn’t a magic place exempt from the law. Of course a jury will decide Alex’s fate but I’m quite sure what my decision would be if I was on the panel.
The ammunition expert who supplied the Rust set only provided dummy rounds to the production, he testified in court as jurors were shown pictures of his chaotic office storage system.
Seth Kenney, an Albuquerque-based movie firearms and ammunition supplier, took the stand Monday at the trial of movie armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, who is charged with involuntary manslaughter and evidence tampering in the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.
Kenney told the court that he cleaned and repackaged ammunition to Rust that was previously supplied to a production in Texas, handing off a box of 50 inert dummy rounds containing no gunpower to the film’s props supervisor on October 12, 2021.
But defense attorneys for Gutierrez-Reed, 26, showed the jury images of Kenney’s ‘cluttered’ business, a storage system without written inventories, and highlighted his ‘hazy’ recollection of his timeline for receiving live rounds for another production.
The jury was shown images of Kenney’s ‘cluttered’ business, a storage system without written inventories.
More careless, sloppy and negligent weapons handling.
A movie set weapons handler who loaded a gun for actor Alec Baldwin before it fired and killed a cinematographer has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter.
Hannah Gutierrez-Reed was found not guilty of a second charge - tampering with evidence over the 2021 shooting of Halyna Hutchins on the set of Rust.
She could now face up to 18 months in prison.
Mr Baldwin also faces a manslaughter trial over the fatality.
Ms Hutchins, 42, was killed after a gun Mr Baldwin used in a rehearsal fired a live round on the set of the Western in New Mexico.
Jurors deliberated for three hours before returning Wednesday’s verdict.
The conviction of Gutierrez-Reed is likely to be seen as good news for Mr Baldwin.
His attorneys can now argue that it was not foreseeable for their client that there was a live round on set because that was the responsibility of the armourer.
The patsy takes the fall.
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How do you know ?
Why would Alex Baldwin want to kill someone on set in front of many people ?
Why were there live rounds in a gin anyway ?m