Armorer Who Loaded Gun in Alec Baldwin Shooting Stands Trial: What to Know

The armorer who loaded the gun that Alec Baldwin was rehearsing with on a movie set in 2021 when it fired a stay spherical and killed the film’s cinematographer is standing trial in New Mexico on a cost of involuntary manslaughter.

The trial of the armorer, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, marks the primary time a trial jury will weigh in on the Oct. 21, 2021, capturing on the set of the movie “Rust,” which claimed the lifetime of its cinematographer, Halyna Hutchins. A grand jury indicted Mr. Baldwin final month on a cost of involuntary manslaughter within the capturing; he has pleaded not responsible and will likely be tried individually later.

The trial, which started with opening arguments on Thursday on the First Judicial District Courthouse in Santa Fe, N.M., is predicted to final about two weeks.

Ms. Gutierrez-Reed, 26, has been accused of prison negligence in her dealing with of weapons on the set of the western. Prosecutors say she did not correctly test that the rounds she loaded into the .45-caliber revolver have been all dummy rounds, that are inert cartridges used to resemble stay rounds on digicam however which can’t be fired.

“The proof will present that the defendant handled the security protocols as in the event that they have been elective, quite than if individuals’s lives counted on her doing her job accurately,” one of many prosecutors, Jason J. Lewis, informed the jury on Thursday.

Ms. Gutierrez-Reed has pleaded not responsible, and her attorneys have argued that she has been made the “scapegoat” of a tragic accident. They blamed another person for the looks of stay rounds on set and charged that the manufacturing reduce corners on security in an effort to cut back prices, together with by overburdening Ms. Gutierrez-Reed with two jobs that prevented her from having the ability to focus totally on her weapons and ammunition duties.

What has Ms. Gutierrez-Reed been accused of?

The prosecutors, Mr. Lewis and Kari T. Morrissey have asserted in courtroom papers that out of all of the individuals concerned within the deadly capturing on the “Rust” set, Ms. Gutierrez-Reed is the “most culpable defendant,” accusing her not solely of negligent conduct on the day of the tragedy however within the days main as much as it as properly.

“Ms. Gutierrez would incessantly go away weapons and ammunition unattended on her prop cart or elsewhere,” Ms. Morrissey wrote in a submitting this month, “or go away actors unattended in possession of actual firearms and prop weapons, creating security issues for crew members.”

Prosecutors have accused Ms. Gutierrez-Reed of violating normal movie security protocols by failing to show to forged and crew members that the rounds she was loading into the revolver have been inert, which is commonly finished by shaking every spherical to listen to a BB rattling inside, indicating that it’s a dummy spherical.

How has Ms. Gutierrez-Reed defended herself?

Her lead lawyer, Jason Bowles, has argued since 2021 that she has been unfairly maligned, underscoring that due to Covid restrictions she was typically stored exterior of inside units, together with when the gun fired in a small church. Mr. Bowles has mentioned that Ms. Gutierrez-Reed requested to be referred to as again onto set when weapons have been in use, however that she wasn’t.

“When the state talks about Ms. Gutierrez-Reed being negligent, what actually occurred was manufacturing was negligent,” Mr. Bowles mentioned in opening arguments. “Manufacturing put her in that place. They put her within the place of getting two jobs — a props assistant and an armorer — and anticipated a 24 12 months outdated beneath actually powerful circumstances to maintain up with the whole lot that was happening.”

He forged blame on Dave Halls, the film’s first assistant director, for not correctly upholding security protocols. (Mr. Halls prevented jail time by taking a plea deal within the case.)

Ms. Gutierrez-Reed informed investigators that she checked every of the six rounds within the gun however that “I want I’d have checked it extra.”

Mr. Bowles has referred to as the set “chaotic,” and has asserted that his shopper had pushed for extra firearms coaching for actors.

Will the jury hear allegations of drug use?

A flashpoint through the months main as much as the trial has been the prosecution’s competition that Ms. Gutierrez-Reed used cocaine whereas in New Mexico through the “Rust” manufacturing and was in possession of the drug on the day of the capturing, passing it off to a crew member following her interview with the police that day.

Final 12 months, prosecutors added a cost of proof tampering associated to the crew member’s testimony, which the protection has argued was designed to “smear” Ms. Gutierrez-Reed’s character.

The protection sought to exclude the proof tampering cost from the trial and argued that any point out of alleged drug use or possession, together with marijuana, ought to be barred. Choose Mary Marlowe Sommer denied the protection’s movement however restricted how a lot proof the prosecution might current regarding the allegations of drug use.

How did stay ammunition wind up on the set?

Reside ammunition is sort of by no means allowed on movie units, so the invention of 5 stay rounds on the “Rust” set, along with the one which killed Ms. Hutchins, has been a spotlight of investigators.

The trial might make clear how the stay rounds acquired there.

Prosecutors mentioned at first of the trial that they deliberate to current proof that Ms. Gutierrez-Reed was the particular person chargeable for bringing stay ammunition onto the set, exhibiting jurors photographs of what they’ve concluded have been stay rounds on the manufacturing within the days main as much as the deadly capturing.

The protection has questioned the prosecution’s skill to pick stay rounds from images and has asserted that proof at trial would present that the stay rounds ended up on set not by means of their shopper however by means of the film’s weapon provider, Seth Kenney; he has denied duty.

Who’s prone to testify?

The prosecution has included a number of “Rust” crew members on its record of potential witnesses, together with Joel Souza, the film’s director, who was additionally shot and wounded within the incident; Mr. Halls, the primary assistant director, who was answerable for security on set; Mamie Mitchell and Serge Svetnoy, crew members who have been within the room on the time of the capturing; and Sarah Zachry, the film’s prop grasp, who entered right into a cooperation settlement with the prosecution. They can even seemingly name the unique investigators on the case from the sheriff’s workplace and Mr. Kenney, the weapons provider.

The protection has additionally listed, amongst others, Gabrielle Pickle, the movie’s line producer, who communicated with Ms. Gutierrez-Reed about weapons coaching; Nicole Montoya, who labored together with her on props; and Thell Reed, the well-known Hollywood armorer whom Ms. Gutierrez-Reed has referred to as her father and mentor.

The prosecution has not too long ago taken subject with Ms. Gutierrez-Reed utilizing Mr. Reed’s final title in courtroom, stating in a submitting that he’s her stepfather and that she began utilizing his final title about three years in the past when she was looking for to “acquire recognition” within the movie trade. Mr. Bowles mentioned the prosecution had no proper to dictate what the defendant calls herself, and that she thought-about Mr. Reed a father as a result of he had raised her since she was younger.

It’s unclear whether or not Ms. Gutierrez-Reed will take the stand herself.

Will Alec Baldwin take the stand?

Mr. Baldwin isn’t anticipated to take the stand. He’s dealing with his personal cost of involuntary manslaughter — to which he has pleaded not responsible — and has the suitable to not reply questions that might incriminate him.

Why has it taken over two years to achieve trial?

There have been quite a few twists and turns within the prosecution of Ms. Gutierrez-Reed and Mr. Baldwin. Once they have been initially charged by a particular prosecutor in 2023, their protection groups famous that they have been being improperly charged beneath a regulation that took impact after the capturing. The unique prosecution crew conceded the error, lowering the potential jail time the defendants confronted for that cost to 18 months from six and a half years.

Mr. Baldwin’s authorized crew then challenged the particular prosecutor’s skill to serve each as a prosecutor and a state legislator on the similar time, main a brand new prosecution crew to take over. The brand new particular prosecutors, Ms. Morrissey and Mr. Lewis, dismissed the case towards Mr. Baldwin pending an additional evaluation of the proof after which introduced it again final month. However the case towards Ms. Gutierrez-Reed has solely grown since they took over. Along with the proof tampering cost, the prosecutors charged Ms. Gutierrez-Reed with illegal carrying of a firearm in a liquor institution in a separate case.

Has the film been completed?

Final 12 months, a lot of the unique forged and crew of “Rust” reconvened in Montana to complete the film’s filming in what the manufacturing described as a tribute to Ms. Hutchins, together with her husband as an government producer. No launch date has been introduced.