Prosecution passes the witness. Defense cross-examine:Bowles begins by questioning her education, experience and credentials. Poppell admits that she has not been trained in identifying dummy, blanks and live ammo.
The defense is doing a great job to grilling Poppell, attacking different elements the prosecution keyed in on.We are now looking at search warrant pictures Poppell took from PDQ props, where Rust supplied its ammo on set. The warehouse is disorganized and there are weapons and ammo stacked everywhere alongside pizza boxes and beer glasses.
We are now taking a morning break.
State's Next Witness: Christopher Zook, former Sergeant for Santa Fe County Sheriffs Office.Zook searched the prop truck and found firearms inside a safe. He found a lever-action rifle and tried to clear it, but it was jammed with a 45 caliber cartridge. Witness passed.
That was a good way to show inexperience of an armorer who is loading the wrong ammo into a firearm. Defense is now pointing out that you don't need to use the lever-action to clear the gun, like Zook did, pointing out his inexperience with the weapon.
Witness dismissed. Next witness: Ryan Litzinger, he is a videographer and editor for a production company in Albuquerque. His production company provides crew, camera, lighting, directors of photography, etc. for movie sets.
On the set of Rust, Litzinger was contracted to provide additional video on set, specifically of the cast and crew working behind-the-scenes. The state discussed passing videos back and forth with Litzinger, but we have not seen any video.
Witness passed. Defense now asking if Alec Baldwin was in control of the production (pacing and filming) when he was a witness. State objects to that line of questioning. Now a private sidebar with the judge.
Defense reposes the question. Another objection. Another sidebar. Defense passes the witness. Witness excused.Next witness: Jason Hawks, who owns a company that looks at digital evidence, including smartphone analysis.
Hawks reviewed the cellphone extraction of HGR conducted on Dec. 8, 2021. Hawks identifies HGR's phone as the pseudonym "Gorilla Grip Pussy Pal.”
Text messages from Oct. 20, 2021 were extracted from HGR's phone of a text exchange with an unknown person. They are being published for the courtroom to view.
"lol I don't need that tonight anyways. Right on. I might go smoke in the jacuzzi soon. But maybe not, I'm so pooped.
""Headed down to get high out back"
"Time to eat now howd the blaze sess go"
"I'm still smoking"
"Hey, I need you to check out my boxes and send me pictures of our boxes of dummies"
The unknown person then responded with an image of a box of ammo
@alcaprari23
Edited to include:
A new text thread with three people, 12/1/21:"Yeah, honestly that gun won't go off unless he fully cocked it."We have now broken for lunch.