Prosecution's next witness: Tim Benavidez.He is retired from Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office, but was a former shift commander at the time of the shooting.Benavidez says it was chaos at the movie set when he first arrived. He says there were only three deputies on scene, which made it difficult to gather witnesses and interview them.
Benavidez had a body-worn camera, which we are about to view. Below is a description of what is being shown to the courtroom: Benavidez notices there are around 200 crew members on scene. He approaches the church from the rear. The ambulance that is treating Halyna Hutchins is already there, but she has not been put inside of it yet. Benavidez is the one who asks everyone to stop what they are doing and declares, "this is a crime scene.”
Benavidez notices cameras from the movie production and asks for them to secure the video. Benavidez says he was concerned about finding the gun. He tells an fellow officer to take pictures as soon as possible so that way he can document the crime scene."Where is the props guy? Where is the props guy at?" Benavidez yells out loud. A crew member tells Benavidez that someone might have moved the gun and starts to take him out of the church. He takes him to a prop cart, where there are at least two weapons, but neither of them are the .45 revolver.
"I need to know where the gun's at right now," Benavidez says. For the first time we see Hannah Gutierrez-Reed hand the gun to Benavidez. "That's the gun!" HGR tells him."Do you have those rounds I gave you," HGR asks someone. He tells her they are on the cart. A different crew member goes to retrieve the rounds. Benavidez says he was trying to secure the scene, the gun and HGR but admits that he couldn't always keep his eyes on the man who went to retrieve the cart. He says there were only three deputies on scene at this time.
Benavidez says when the cart was brought back to him, it appeared to be disorganized. Benavidez clears the gun and puts it in the front of his car. It did not have any ammo in it. HGR is beside Benavidez and looks distressed."Oh my god, . Are they okay?" HGR panics and says out loud.
HGR is now looking at the guns and ammo on the cart. She is panicking and crying. Inside the courtroom, HGR is looking at the computer screen but does not appear to show much emotion.
Back to the video, HGR is crying and Benavidez is telling her to breathe and relax. She is besides herself and is hyper-ventilating."Where the are these entry wounds? Is she okay? Nobody has told me anything," HGR asks Benavidez.
Benavidez testifies that a victim must be stabilized before they can be life-flighted out. That can take a lot of time."Oh my god," HGR repeats.Benavidez tells a woman that he needs help keeping everyone in place. Nobody should be cleared out."Am I arrested?" HGR asks. She is placed in the back of his police unit. "You are not arrested," Benavidez tells her.
Benavidez covers his body camera video and speaks to a lieutenant: "Alec Baldwin pulled the trigger.. I have the weapon, I have the ammo and I have the armorer..." "There were four people in the room and two people shot... one in the chest, the other male shot in the shoulder.”
Benavidez tells the lieutenant that it is a fluid scene swarming with people. A lot of this conversation is inaudible because he is covering the camera. "Alec is smoking a cigarette and is sitting in his own car," a crewmember tells Benavidez."Are you doing okay?" Benavidez asks HGR. "No!!!" HGR responds crying.
"I need somebody to check [on HGR]. She's having a panic attack and hyperventilating," Benavidez tells someone. Benavidez sees additional paramedics and tells them to go check on HGR. This scene is total chaos with a ton of people trying to help but clearly overwhelming Benavidez.
Benavidez is now trying to figure out who was in the church at the time of the shooting. A lawyer on scene introduces herself. Benavidez tries to ensure that everyone who is on that set stays there.
Benavidez explains to the medical unit what type of ammo was used. He points out the ammo for the .45, which the boxes are labeled as dummy rounds. Benavidez takes the medic to meet the lawyer. He leaves the medic to speak to the lawyer.
"I have more people coming," Benavidez tells a deputy. Benavidez says the Santa Fe County Sheriff has 100 officers, but Benavidez says only three were there. Benavidez goes to check on HGR. Benavidez takes the two ammo boxes and places it in his driver side seat. He testifies that he does not believe anyone tampered with the evidence, gun or ammo.
We are taking an afternoon break for the next 20 minutes.
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