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

[arielilane]

@cathyrusson

WATCH LIVE: ‘Rust’ Movie Shooting — NM v. Hannah Gutierrez — Day One
https://youtube.com/live/t8zw3sLeQjI?si=cpby9e2EJb4yuZOX via @YouTube

https://twitter.com/x/status/1760676483436355902

Defendant #HannahGutierrez sits at counsel table ahead of opening statements in #RustMovieSet shooting.

 

[Betty P]

I don't think we know how "generous" the settlement with AB was. It's sealed.

Alec Baldwin settlement in fatal shooting sealed, judge cites privacy concerns over son of Halyna Hutchins

And I believe the production company was already sued by the HH's family (husband/child) at the same time AB was.

Judge approves settlement in 'Rust' shooting lawsuit by Halyna Hutchins' family

I don't know what is going on the the lawsuit involving HH's other relatives.

Alec Baldwin facing new lawsuit from cinematographer’s family in ‘Rust’ shooting
Moo

I doubt Helena's husband would have agreed to the settlement if he didn't think it was adequate.

 

[NCWatcher]

I doubt Helena's husband would have agreed to the settlement if he didn't think it was adequate.

That is probably true although he was most likely experiencing pretty active grief at the time. But we can't say it was or wasn't a "generous" settlement since the terms are sealed. MOO

 

[arielilane]

@alcaprari23
Defense is now it's opening statements, delivered by Jason Bowles. Bowles says what happened was a tragedy, but does not mean a crime was committed or that HGR caused the crimes.

Bowles begins by saying that Baldwin likely pulled the trigger after pointing it at Halyna Hutchins. He says rule #1 of gun safety is never point a firearm at somebody unless you intend to shoot. "That rule was broken."

Bowles says that Hannah Gutierrez-Reed is the film production's scape goat. She was 24 at the time and the movie production was putting too much responsibility on her by being also labeled as a prop assistant, taking her away from her armorer duties.
Bowles pointing to the OSHA report which identified a number of safety errors and that the RUST set was rushed and negligent. They put her in a position of having two jobs and expected a 24-year-old under tough conditions to keep up with everything going on.

Bowles says that HGR emailed the production manager, asking for more armorer days. "When I'm not able to focus on my armorer duties, this is when mistakes happen," Bowles says HGR wrote in the email.

Bowles for the first time mentions the name Sarah Zachary, the prop master, who was supposed to source the ammunition and source the firearms, saying that prosecution laid out inaccurate information about who should have brought the ammo.

Bowles points out that 1st AD Dave Halls did not inspect the weapon properly and Alec Baldwin did not inspect the weapon at all. He says the cross-draw move Baldwin was practicing is a dangerous move and that HGR wanted to train Baldwin on a cross-draw, but Baldwin did not do that training.

Bowles says there are Hollywood tricks that should have been used to keep the gun from being pointed at people. He says Baldwin violated safety rules and Hollywood standards.

"There is going to be numerous dummy rounds that also have silver primers that were on the set. There was an FBI report with a box removed from the box truck that had silver primers on dummies and a live round. So the theory that all the silver primer rounds are live is not correct. It's just not true.”

Bowles says that Rust Productions sourced all the dummy rounds from PDQ props, the primary supplier of ammo. The owner of PDQ props was extremely active in contacting the sheriff and point the finger away from himself, Bowles says. Bowles also claims Sarah Zachary texted PDQ "emergency." Bowles says Zachary has a conflict of interest with PDQ.

Bowles claims Zachary threw away rounds on the set of Rust after the shooting, claiming she tampered with evidence by doing so. Bowles wants the jury to evaluate the credibility of Zachary when she takes the stand.

Another instance of scene tampering: Zachary carried items from the prop cart to the prop truck, moving items knowing there was a shooting and that LE would be there. One box appeared in the prop truck, when it should have been on the cart, tampering with the evidence at the scene of the crime.

"This is law enforcement's job to secure the scene, Bowles says. You don't want evidence to walk away, to go missing. You can't convict someone in this country no matter who they are unless you prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt. What we have here is theories based on evidence that has been tampered with.”

Bowles says the jury will hear form Thell Reed, legendary armorer and father of HGR. He trained HGR well as well as trained Brad Pitt, Denzel Washington and other high-profile actors. Bowles wants the jury to realize that despite HGR age, that she was very experienced.

Bowles claims that Thell Reed brought live rounds to PDQ Arms and Props so that way they can train actors for a separate movie production. Bowles claims that the ammo from that training session were likely the ones inadvertently brought onto RUST.

Bowles says we will be missing evidence in this trial, knowing that PDQ was the primary ammo supplier, that Sarah had thrown rounds away, moved items from the prop truck and that PDQ was never fingerprinted.

"That will be evidence that you will never see or have because the government never did it.”

Bowles says some dummies do not shake with BBs and do not have a hole in them. And that one of those dummies was found on the set of RUST. This pokes holes in the state's argument of how to determine a dummy from a live round.
Bowles claims HGR is an easy target, the least powerful person on that set. A perfect scapegoat.Bowles says there were two accidental discharges on set, not related to the Hutchins shooting. One was from Sarah Zachary, the other with Alec Baldwin's stunt double.

Bowles says 1st AD did not do anything about these accidental misfirings, which was his responsibility. He didn't order additional training and other cast and crew didn't even know about it.

"You are going to be missing critical evdience. You are going to not hear about Seth Kenny (PDQ) because the government didn't investigate. It chose not to.

"Ms. Gutierrez Reed did the best job she could under very tough circumstances trying to get into this profession... she was trained by her dad, a long time armorer. 24-years-old. She had insufficient time to do her armorer duties.. and management made a number of mistakes.""She is not guilty of the crimes charged against her and the prosecution must prove that beyond a reasonable doubt."The defense closes its opening statements.

Edited to included more posts.

 

[BeachSky]

DBM

 

[arielilane]

@alcaprari23

Prosecution calls it's first witness: Officer Nicholas LeFleur. He works as a police officer for Santa Fe PD. He was previously working for Santa Fe County Sheriff at the time of the shooting. He responded to the Bonzana Creek Ranch.

LeFleur says he was the first deputy that arrived to the scene. He wore a body-worn camera. We are about to view the video in the courtroom.

The video will not be shown on the livestream, but I will do my best to describe what I am seeing. The jury have several monitors in front of them to view it up-close.You can see LeFleur drive up to the church and get out of his vehicle. People are shouting for his help. He's gets a first aid kit out of his passenger side vehicle.The video freezes and the prosecution has trouble getting the video back up and running for the jury.

Okay, the video is back up and running.LeFleur tells the court that he retrieves a shooting trauma kit and oxygen kit. He runs into the courtroom and you can see Hutchins conscious on the floor, moving her head back and forth. LaFleur works with the paramedics on scene to find a "seal." There are at lest three people surrounding Hutchins. Another two surrounding director Joel Souza. Paramedics inform that she was shot in the chest and LaFleur asks if they need air-flight. LaFleur exits the church and requests a helicopter.

The court is taking an hour lunch break to try to sort out technical difficulties in getting this video and audio to play. Back at 12:30 mountain time.

 

[arielilane]

HANNAH GUTIERREZ-REED AFTERNOON THREAD

Before we broke for lunch, we were watching body cam video from former Sheriff Deputy Nicholas LeFleur. He was the first to respond to the church following the shooting. He witnessed Halyna Hutchins writhing in pain before she died.





"Requesting air flight... one female shot in the chest..." LeFleur says when requesting support.Back in the church, it is chaos as at least 6-8 people are trying to tend to the wounds of Halyna Hutchins and Joel Souza. You can hear screams in pain at times. Souza is cursing and yelling "ow!" Not hearing much noise from Hutchins, although she is still alive at this moment.


LeFleur puts a mask over Halyna's face to help her breathe. With her own strength, she reaches her arm up on her own and puts it over her head. She is no longer wearing a shirt, just a bra. It appears paramedics cut off her shirt. "Deep breath, Halyna!" someone instructs her.

"Entrance is here, exit is back here," one paramedic explains to others about the bullet entry and exit wound. A man is apply pressure to the wound, LaFleur continues to hold the mask. You can see Souza writhing in pain, his legs moving back and forth. Additional firefighters and paramedics just arrived to the scene.

LeFleur explains the nature of his injuries to supervisors on scene. He calls Hutchins injury a "through-and-through," meaning the bullet entered and exited her body."Everyone stop what you're doing right now, this is a crime scene," you can hear someone declare off-camera.

A group of paramedics lift Hutchins body onto a stretcher and secure her. They put her inside of an ambulance. LeFleur asks, "what's the ETA on the bird?" asking about how long it would take the helicopter to get there. Suddenly, the helicopter arrives.Inside the courtroom, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed is watching her computer screen closely, which is playing the video. The jury is also enthralled with the video. Some jury members hold their hands over their mouth in shock and awe.

LeFleur is now securing the church with crime scene tape. A helicopter lands in the distance. LeFleur runs to the helicopter, approximately 50-100 yards away. A helicopter medic exits, and LeFleur briefs him on Hutchin's injuries, calling her "priority.”

"Can you open your eyes for me?" a paramedic asks Hutchins inside the ambulance. LeFleur asks everyone on scene to gather together so they can be organized for when they need to take down their names and information. Hutchins is not in the helicopter yet. LeFleur says they are giving her IVs in the ambulance first. Souza emerges from the church on a stretcher. He is still and composed and not screaming, perhaps in shock.

Defense cross-examining LeFleur. LeFleur testifies that an attorney showed up at the crime scene and began speaking to witnesses before law enforcement could. Witness is excused.

@alcaprari23

 

[arielilane]

@cathyrusson

Here is the gun.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1760713615110558022

Video of #AlecBaldwin practicing drawing the weapon from the holster.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1760741306467537104

 

[Slick762]

There won't necessarily be any record of where she purchased ammunition. I'm not in the US but I'm sure that ammo sales aren't recorded. Whatever she did buy wouldn't have been "reloaded" - if was a purchase from a gunshop it would have been factory made ammo from a small producer using Star-Line brass.

As to the sixth round not loading properly, there could be a plausible explanation for this; it may not have been an issue with the gun but, rather, the ammo. Dummy rounds are by definition custom made by hand. A particular dummy round may have been made incorrectly causing it not to chamber. You see it all the time with reloaded ammunition - the brass hasn't been sized correctly, or too much crimp has been applied bucking it, bullet seated not straight, etc.

Also, by their very nature, dummies are loaded and unloaded multiple times and may have been passed through multiple guns of various states of repair and become damaged, especially if they'd been cycled through, say, lever action rifles multiple times. That's a very good way of bashing up ammo. Ammo is not designed nor intended to be treated like this.

Unless we know that it was the same round (dummy or live) that HR loaded after cleaning the gun then we cannot say that a dirty gun was the problem.

Besides, shooting a few rounds through an otherwise clean and serviceable gun is unlikely to cause those sorts of problems as regards dirt clogging it up. IMO.

I wasn't thinking that shooting the gun caused the cylinder to foul. I remembered seeing something about HRG getting yelled at in her previous movie for loading and unloading guns on the ground. My thought was that maybe the guns were being mishandled and dirt or a rock got in there. Which doesn't reflect on HRG, more about how lax the set was, possibly.

 

[arielilane]

@ReutersLegal

A New Mexico prosecutor accused the chief weapons handler for Western 'Rust' Hannah Gutierrez of acting negligently, holding her responsible for the 2021 fatal shooting of the film's cinematographer Halyna Hutchins by actor Alec Baldwin

https://twitter.com/x/status/1760733578630189550

https://www.reuters.com/legal/prosecution-opens-its-case-against-rust-armorer-accused-negligent-acts-failures-2024-02-22/

The death of Hutchins was the first on-set fatal shooting since actor Brandon Lee, the 28-year-old son of the late martial artist and actor Bruce Lee, died in 1993 while filming a movie when his colleague shot him.

"We believe it was the negligent acts and failures of the defendant Miss Gutierrez that contributed to Miss Hutchins' death and the live rounds being brought onto the set," said special prosecutor Jason Lewis, appointed nearly a year ago after two predecessors resigned following a series of legal missteps.

 

[arielilane]

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.

@alcaprari23

 

[Betty P]

Bowles points out that 1st AD Dave Halls did not inspect the weapon properly and Alec Baldwin did not inspect the weapon at all. He says the cross-draw move Baldwin was practicing is a dangerous move and that HGR wanted to train Baldwin on a cross-draw, but Baldwin did not do that training.

It's not a dangerous move if, as was required, the gun didn't contain live ammunition. With an empty "cold" gun (as AB was informed when handed the gun), there would have been zero risk of a problem.

JMO, its a no-brainer. Had the gun been unloaded there would have been no risk.

 

[arielilane]

Back on the record. Going to try to finish this body cam video.

The lawyer is pushing Benavidez to make sure she is present when witnesses are interviewed. Benavidez climbs into the ambulance to check on Hutchins. They are still trying to stabilize her and she is not yet in the helicopter. A paramedic tells Benavidez that she is "critical, but stable.”


A deputy informs Benavidez that someone has left the crime scene. Benavidez reinforces that everyone should stay put. Benavidez returns to lawyer and tells her that Hutchins is in critical condition. HGR is moved from his police vehicle to a different car to get more comfortable. The body camera footage ends.


A still photo of the ammo boxes in the driver's seat of Benavidez's car are now being shown to the jury. When zoomed in, you can read on the box: "45 LONG COLT DUMMIES."Prosecution passes the witness.

@alcaprari23

 

[Marantz4250b]

It's not a dangerous move if, as was required, the gun didn't contain live ammunition. With an empty "cold" gun (as AB was informed when handed the gun), there would have been zero risk of a problem.

JMO, its a no-brainer. Had the gun been unloaded there would have been no risk.

If you have not personally checked the gun, or watched someone else check it in front of you, then it is by definition a dangerous move. Any use of a gun without checking it is dangerous.

 

[DizzyB]

It's not a dangerous move if, as was required, the gun didn't contain live ammunition. With an empty "cold" gun (as AB was informed when handed the gun), there would have been zero risk of a problem.

JMO, its a no-brainer. Had the gun been unloaded there would have been no risk.

Guns are dangerous. There were rounds in the gun. Was there a reason that even a dummy should be there for rehearsal? If there were 6 dummies in the gun, all six should have been reviewed via shaking or visual check, one at a time, then loaded, then the gun handed to either the AD or directly to Baldwin. Instead, everybody assumed the gun lying on the cart was fine.

 

[arielilane]

Defense asks Benavidez if it's important to protect a crime scene and preserve the evidence.


Defense pointing out some flaws in the investigation. People crossing police tape, touching evidence, etc. Benavidez explains that it was a chaotic scene and there were only three deputies on scene.


@alcaprari23

 

[arielilane]

Prosecution calls its next witness: Marissa Poppell. She is a crime scene technician who investigated the scene of the shooting.

She arrived on scene around 2-3pm. She helped collect and package evidence, sending off suspected live ammo, DNA swabs collected on the scene and fingerprints to the FBI.


Poppell says casings on the scene were fingerprinted, but were not DNA tested. Too small to get a good DNA profile. Poppell also assisted with a search warrant on the prop truck and at PDQ Arm and Prop. Here in the courtroom, Poppell pulls out a box that she brought with her.

@alcaprari23

 

[arielilane]

We are now looking at some of the evidence from inside the box. The white box labeled DUMMIES is in a bag and placed for the jury to see. A foam insert that goes inside the box which holds ammo rounds.
A 44-40 dummy round.
Prosecutor Kari Morrissey holds up the round to the mic and shakes it and you can clearly hear the BBs rattling inside.
A dismantled dummy round with ball bearing visible.
A 45 dummy round. This does not have a ball bearing inside, but has a hole drilled on the outside of it.
A dismantled 45 live round that was located inside the ammo box.
You can see gun powder inside a plastic cylinder. Morrissey holds the ammo up to show a silver primer on the end. The second box of ammunition. Each round is a blank with a crimped end.
A 44-40 dummy round taken out of a box labeled 38-40.
A 38-40 dummy taken out of the same box labeled 38-40.


Court is adjourned for the evening. Goodnight!


@alcaprari23

 

[ch_13]

Lewis says HGR initially loaded five rounds into the six-shooter, but after lunch, loaded a sixth round into the chamber. Lewis says 1st AD Dave Halls did a sloppy check of the gun once it was passed to him. He was supposed to be the second layer of safety before handing the gun to Baldwin.

snipped.

In Halls' deposition he claimed that he did not hand AB the gun. Considering he's a prosecution witness, it'll be interesting to see how that plays out during his testimony.

 

[ch_13]

I don't think we know how "generous" the settlement with AB was. It's sealed.

Alec Baldwin settlement in fatal shooting sealed, judge cites privacy concerns over son of Halyna Hutchins

And I believe the production company was already sued by the HH's family (husband/child) at the same time AB was.

Judge approves settlement in 'Rust' shooting lawsuit by Halyna Hutchins' family

I don't know what is going on the the lawsuit involving HH's other relatives.

Alec Baldwin facing new lawsuit from cinematographer’s family in ‘Rust’ shooting
Moo

I think it's important to note that despite the headlines this wasn't just a lawsuit between Alec Baldwin and the Hutchins family. In addition to AB, the suit was also filed against the production company, the producers, HGR and other crew as well. So, the settlement encompassed a lot of parties, and presumably insurance companies, etc. were also involved.

As to whether the settlement was generous, on one hand the suit was settled within 7 months, which is a relatively short period of time considering the number of players involved. But on the other hand, the production company was a limited liability company created expressly for the purpose of filming the movie, so it didn't have much in the way of assets associated with it. The difficulties in finding a defendant with big pockets almost certainly played a part in the negotiations.

Here's a really good article from the Hollywood Reporter on the lawsuit and what may have precipitated the settlement: Inside the Secret ‘Rust’ Settlement: Why Did Halyna Hutchins’ Widower Drop His Suit to Become an Executive Producer?