Weapons supervisor guilty as witness in Rust shooting trial waves revolver in court
THE weapons supervisor for Alec Baldwin’s film Rust has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter over the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, 42.
Hannah Gutierrez-reed, 26, had been accused of bringing live bullets onto the set, one of which was fired from a revolver held by Mr Baldwin and killed Ms Hutchins. During the trial a detective cited “circumstantial evidence” that Gutierrez-reed had unknowingly brought the live rounds to Rust from a previous production.
Gutierrez-reed had also been charged with tampering with evidence in connection with an allegation she handed a bag of suspected cocaine to a crew member. She was found not guilty.
Assistant director David Halls, who last year entered a plea bargain for negligent use of a deadly weapon, received a six-month suspended sentence.
Baldwin has been charged with involuntary manslaughter. The actor, who was also a producer for Rust, has entered a plea of not guilty and is to stand trial in July. Earlier a witness was challenged by the prosecution for “pointing a gun at the judge”. Frank Louis Blair Koucky III, a firearms expert appearing for Gutierrez-reed’s defence, was given a stern warning by District Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer after brandishing an unloaded revolver.
“Everybody’s nervous because you have not demonstrated to us they are unloaded,” said the judge as Mr Koucky held the gun in the witness box. “So before you start showing us the weapons, make sure they’re unloaded, including that one you just touched.”
Mr Koucky drew a gasp from the public gallery at the courthouse in Santa Fe, New Mexico on Monday when he appeared to point the muzzle of the revolver in the judge’s direction in a bid to prove it was unloaded. Kari Morrissey,
prosecuting, asked Mr Koucky in her cross-examination if he agreed that gun safety requires the gun’s handler not to point it at anyone – to which he agreed. Ms Morrissey followed up by asking: “Do you agree with me that while you were sitting here in the courtroom you pulled out a gun and pointed it at the judge?”
“I do not,” Mr Koucky said, gesturing in the air with his hands. “I pointed it to this space up here, never directly at the judge.”