Halyna Hutchins Shot With Prop Gun - Alec Baldwin indicted & Hannah Gutierrez-Reed charged, 2021 #6

[Betty P]

What forensic testing reveals about revolver in on-set 'Rust' shooting

The FBI conducted accidental discharge testing on the firearm used in the shooting.

abcnews.go.com

With the hammer de-cocked on a loaded chamber, the gun was able to detonate a primer "without a pull of the trigger when the hammer was struck directly," which is normal for this type of revolver, the report stated.

Quote from Baldwin's attorney, same article

"The FBI report is being misconstrued," the statement continued. "The gun fired in testing only one time -- without having to pull the trigger -- when the hammer was pulled back and the gun broke in two different places. The FBI was unable to fire the gun in any prior test, even when pulling the trigger, because it was in such poor condition."

The documents have been reviewed by the New Mexico Office of the Medical Investigator, which has classified Hutchins' death as an accident, a postmortem report obtained by ABC News shows.

"Death was caused by a gunshot wound of the chest. Review of available law enforcement reports showed no compelling demonstration that the firearm was intentionally loaded with live ammunition on set," the report stated. "Based on all available information, including the absence of obvious intent to cause harm or death, the manner of death is best classified as accident."

JMO, I agree with the NM Office of the Medical Investigator. It was an accident and like previous on-set firearms accidents, it should be handled in civil court. AB has already settled the civil lawsuit brought by Helena's family.

 

[cocomod]

I completely agree with PrarieWind that the defence does not have a duty to demonstrate anything to disprove the prosecution's case. Surely they do need to demonstrate the factualness of something they say, however? If they say that the trigger had been messed with so as to make it more likely to accidentally discharge then they must necessarily have to back that up with facts? Indeed, if that is the case it should be fairly easy to demonstrate by an examination of the parts?

It will be very interesting to see whether the defence commission their own forensic report on the should, should AB be charged again. That's a report I'd very much like to see!

RSBM / RBBM

From the articles, it is the special prosecutor that indicated that the trigger may have been modified, not the defense and it wasn't just mentioned, it was apparently notated in court filings.

Hammer of gun in 'Rust' shooting possibly modified, prosecutors say

The hammer of the gun actor Alec Baldwin was holding when it fired a live round killing "Rust" cinematographer Halyna Hutchins may have been intentionally modified, New Mexico special prosecutors said in a court filing this week.

www.reuters.com

Hammer of gun in 'Rust' shooting possibly modified, prosecutors say​

May 18 (Reuters) - The hammer of the gun actor Alec Baldwin was holding when it fired a live round killing "Rust" cinematographer Halyna Hutchins may have been intentionally modified, New Mexico special prosecutors said in a court filing this week.

 

[Marantz4250b]

That last sentence from AB's lawyer is a blatant untruth. The FBI report says nothing of the sort.

Indeed, it says the exact opposite - that they could get it to fire by pulling the trigger!

 

[Betty P]

That last sentence from AB's lawyer is a blatant untruth. The FBI report says nothing of the sort.

Indeed, it says the exact opposite - that they could get it to fire by pulling the trigger!

My interpretation of the results of the FBI investigation is that it could be fired both ways - with pulling the trigger and accidentally without pulling the trigger.

It was a tragic workplace accident. Fine the producers, AB has already settled a civil suit with the family and paid damages for Helena's accidental death.

 

[Marantz4250b]

My interpretation of the results of the FBI investigation is that it could be fired both ways - with pulling the trigger and accidentally without pulling the trigger.

It was a tragic workplace accident. Fine the producers, AB has already settled a civil suit with the family and paid damages for Helena's accidental death.

Both are true but the point about the latter is that yes, it's possible - in theory, but it's entirely irrelevant to the circumstances of this case. It could only be accidentally fired with the hammer in the fully forward position with the firing pin resting on the primer of the cartridge and then force being applied to it.

That's not what AB claims happened. He said he retracted the hammer all the way rearward, let it go and it discharged. That cannot happen without the trigger being depressed, as the FBI pointed out.

Again, though, that is NOT what his attorney has said. His quote was that the FBI could not get it to fire under any circumstances as it was soo poorly maintained. That is completely untrue. It's demonstrably untrue as that gun managed to shoot two people killing one of them.

Perhaps he has been misquoted and needs a correction publishing?

 

[10ofRods]

My interpretation of the results of the FBI investigation is that it could be fired both ways - with pulling the trigger and accidentally without pulling the trigger.

It was a tragic workplace accident. Fine the producers, AB has already settled a civil suit with the family and paid damages for Helena's accidental death.

It's not accidental. Revolvers are designed (just as you see in the movies) to fire by "fanning" the hammer. The trigger is pulled (but the first chamber is empty, so the trigger doesn't make it shoot a bullet). Then the shooter fans the hammer and shoots the 5 bullets without pulling the trigger to shoot.

There is such a thing as criminal negligence by companies, not just individuals. So, the producers could be criminally charged (I think the most egregious thing that happened was hiring a former hair and makeup woman with 1 and only 1 prior job as an armorer - in which Nick Cage said she was incompetent and they had problems with guns as well - I want to say it was also a misfire).

She did an interview in between the two films on a podcast (something about the West), and really sounds completely confused and untrained. She talks about how her father never showed her the trade, she had to learn it on her own and was delighted with herself for having figured out that one doesn't put 6 bullets in a revolver, that 5 is safer and that the chamber that's empty should be the one lined up with the barrel when it's handed to someone - all true, but the fact that she had *just* learned this was scary to me, in listening).

I think it's clear that someone brought live ammo to the set, right? And she was in charge of loading the weapon (and I believe she has said she did load it - but she didn't notice? And more live ammo was found in a gun belt/prop?)

Yikes.

 

[Betty P]

It's not accidental. Revolvers are designed (just as you see in the movies) to fire by "fanning" the hammer. The trigger is pulled (but the first chamber is empty, so the trigger doesn't make it shoot a bullet). Then the shooter fans the hammer and shoots the 5 bullets without pulling the trigger to shoot.

There is such a thing as criminal negligence by companies, not just individuals. So, the producers could be criminally charged (I think the most egregious thing that happened was hiring a former hair and makeup woman with 1 and only 1 prior job as an armorer - in which Nick Cage said she was incompetent and they had problems with guns as well - I want to say it was also a misfire).

She did an interview in between the two films on a podcast (something about the West), and really sounds completely confused and untrained. She talks about how her father never showed her the trade, she had to learn it on her own and was delighted with herself for having figured out that one doesn't put 6 bullets in a revolver, that 5 is safer and that the chamber that's empty should be the one lined up with the barrel when it's handed to someone - all true, but the fact that she had *just* learned this was scary to me, in listening).

I think it's clear that someone brought live ammo to the set, right? And she was in charge of loading the weapon (and I believe she has said she did load it - but she didn't notice? And more live ammo was found in a gun belt/prop?)

Yikes.

Agree, it appears she was incompetent, not ready for the job.

 

[PrairieWind]

Agree, it appears she was incompetent, not ready for the job.

I don't really know what her level of knowledge of firearms was, but I think it is certainly safe to say she was not mature enough for the job.

 

[ifindedout]

Previously unreleased video of AB firing blanks and directing on safety

Previously unreleased videos show Alec Baldwin firing prop gun with blanks and directing 'Rust' crew on safety

Special prosecutors in New Mexico said they will convene a grand jury to consider recharging Baldwin with involuntary manslaughter.

www.nbcnews.com

A series of videos exclusively obtained by NBC News gives a never-before-seen glimpse of Alec Baldwin handling at least one prop gun and interacting with crew members while he was filming scenes for “Rust.” The footage was recorded days before Baldwin’s prop gun fired a live round of ammunition on set, killing cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.

The five videos show Baldwin preparing for scenes, firing the guns and acting in character. In two of them, he tries to rearrange crew members after having expressed concerns about their safety. The five videos total about seven minutes of footage, and the crew was shooting for two weeks before production was shut down.

 

[Cool Cats]

Family of Marine killed in Afghanistan fails to win lawsuit against Alec Baldwin

Alec Baldwin didn't have to pay anything to resolve a $25 million lawsuit filed by family members of a Marine killed in Afghanistan after the actor chastised them on social media over the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, Baldwin's attorney said. U.S. Southern District of New York...

news.yahoo.com

 

[Betty P]

Family of Marine killed in Afghanistan fails to win lawsuit against Alec Baldwin

Alec Baldwin didn't have to pay anything to resolve a $25 million lawsuit filed by family members of a Marine killed in Afghanistan after the actor chastised them on social media over the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, Baldwin's attorney said. U.S. Southern District of New York...

news.yahoo.com

Why did the family sue him at all? He had given them $5,000 many years ago to help the family after the death of their son in the Afghanistan battle at the airport.

Apparently their own attorneys didn't feel the lawsuit was warranted. I feel badly for the parents for having lost their son in Afghanistan. I hope they can heal and get some help. Maybe stay off social media, too.

 

[Cool Cats]

Why did the family sue him at all? He had given them $5,000 many years ago to help the family after the death of their son in the Afghanistan battle at the airport.

Apparently their own attorneys didn't feel the lawsuit was warranted. I feel badly for the parents for having lost their son in Afghanistan. I hope they can heal and get some help. Maybe stay off social media, too.

It was a $25 million lawsuit, I believe they did it for the $$$. Alec has money and they got greedy, $5000.00 wasn't enough. Like with Gwyneth Paltrow, taking advantage of wealthy individuals. $25 million is greed......How it looks to me - 2 Cents

 

[DI_Isokawa]

Movie armorer in 'Rust' fatal shooting pleads not guilty to unrelated gun charge

The weapons supervisor on the film set where Alec Baldwin shot and killed a cinematographer in 2021 has waived her arraignment in a separate case, pleading not guilty to a

www.abqjournal.com

Seems a bit strange. Why this late?

 

[Laughing]

Great question on the timing -- maybe the person making the original report kept asking?

Or that person contacted prosecutors directly?

(My family lives in Santa Fe, has for generations. Possibly perhaps, the person originally reporting, hypothetically, or a relative or close friend, just maybe, won an election or gained other employment close to the courts & LE....)

jmho ymmv lrr

 

[DI_Isokawa]

Great question on the timing -- maybe the person making the original report kept asking?

Or that person contacted prosecutors directly?

(My family lives in Santa Fe, has for generations. Possibly perhaps, the person originally reporting, hypothetically, or a relative or close friend, just maybe, won an election or gained other employment close to the courts & LE....)

jmho ymmv lrr

Possible. Just seems strange that the authorities would sit on it for this long. Like it wasn't important enough to deal with at the time, but now we can add it to her troubles. And just one witness? In the absence of other information, this smells a bit.

 

[Betty P]

Possible. Just seems strange that the authorities would sit on it for this long. Like it wasn't important enough to deal with at the time, but now we can add it to her troubles. And just one witness? In the absence of other information, this smells a bit.

Were they using a grand jury for her case? The news reports say they're using one for Baldwin's. Just a thought.

 

[PrairieWind]

Strange. I don't think we had heard anything about this previously, had we?

 

[DI_Isokawa]

Strange. I don't think we had heard anything about this previously, had we?

Not to my knowledge, and I've been following pretty closely.

 

[PrairieWind]

Were they using a grand jury for her case? The news reports say they're using one for Baldwin's. Just a thought.

That is actually a pretty good question. It is the same DA office.

 

[Betty P]

That is actually a pretty good question. It is the same DA office.

I only learn from the best.