Dave Halls, ‘Rust’ Assistant Director, Gives Account of Shooting That Conflicts With Others’ Statements (EXCLUSIVE)
In a deposition, 'Rust' first A.D. Dave Halls said that no one person is responsible for Halyna Hutchins' death.variety.com
Halls has come in for harsh criticism for two actions just prior to the shooting. First, according to the widely reported narrative, Halls took the gun from Gutierrez Reed and handed it to Baldwin. Second, he declared it a “cold gun,” meaning it did not carry an explosive charge.
But in his deposition, Halls denied that he had done either of those things.
Halls testified that he checked the gun with Gutierrez Reed — as was their typical practice — and then she was the one who handed it directly to Baldwin.
He also said he did not announce that it was a “cold gun.”
“I don’t have any recollection of me saying that,” Halls said. “I have recollections of Hannah saying it.”
From what I recall of the HGR trial, the prosecution believes that Reed was outside the church and it was Dave Halls that actually handed the gun to Baldwin, even though he denied it.
Also, my understanding is that whenever a gun is handed to an actor, something needs to be said: "cold gun", "safe weapon", "quarter load", etc. so that everyone on set knows what's in the firearm. You're never supposed to just quietly pass it over. Of course that would just be another in the long list of violations of best practices on the Rust set.