A movie set weapons handler who loaded a gun for actor Alec Baldwin before it fired and killed a cinematographer was "sloppy", her trial has heard.
"Negligent acts" by armourer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, 26, led to Halyna Hutchins' death during the production of Rust, prosecutors told the court.
Ms Gutierrez-Reed has pleaded not guilty to charges of involuntary manslaughter and tampering with evidence over the fatality during the production of the Western in the US state of New Mexico.
During opening statements for the trial in Santa Fe on Thursday, prosecutors argued that the defendant's "unprofessional" on-set conduct led to an avoidable tragedy in which live ammunition found its way into a weapon.
"You will hear testimony that she routinely left guns and ammunition lying around the set unattended and her gun safe and ammo cart were constantly disorganised," special prosecutor Jason Lewis said.
To make their case, prosecutors showed jurors boxes of ammunition that were on set the day the shooting took place, which they said contained live rounds interspersed with dummy ones.
They allege that Ms Gutierrez-Reed negligently brought live ammunition from her home to the set that day, including the bullet that struck and killed Ms Hutchins.
The defence case is basically to just keep saying that Alec Baldwin is at fault because he fired the gun. I'd love to see him do prison time but the armourer sounds much worse.
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
It's hard to imagine him going down on the basis that "he fired the gun". I would personally have thought they'd go for a "he has ultimate authority and responsibility as the director" line of argument but hey I'm no lawyercel.
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
checking a gun is basic gun safety that the average 5 year old in texas probably knows. as a grown butt man, he was ultimately responsible for the safety of himself and others as the person holding a real gun. It literally takes a few seconds to check everything. The difference between a blank and a real bullet is apparent to even an amateur.
He obviously didn't mean to kill someone but ultimately his negligence or ignorance directly lead to the preventable death of another person. Everything else is sort of irrelevant, but should be used as a lesson on why teaching and practicing gun safety is critically important. I don't see why this wouldn't be manslaughter. It's not like the revelation that the armorer was an r-slur is going to bring someone back from the dead. She didn't fire a gun at anyone
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
More options
Context
More options
Context