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.
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I never understood why they went after Alec Baldwin apart from him being in charge. The armorer is ultimately responsible for all the gun safety on set. I know right wingers have a hate hard on for the guy which is fine i hate celebrities too, but this dumb c*nt should take the fall.
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Because when you learn about gun safety, one of the things you learn is to treat every gun as loaded until you yourself clear it. Alec did the thing that everyone has heard as the textbook example of what not to do. Someone hands you a gun and tells you it's unloaded, until you clear it yourself, too bad, it's loaded.
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Maybe it would be different if it was while the cameras were rolling, but they weren't and he fired a gun at a cast member when he didn't need to. I agree that this should all fall on the armourer but it's pretty easy to charge a shooter with a crime.
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So they were just practicing for the scene before shooting and he pulls the trigger on a real gun that normally fires loud blanks? Weird.
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The fact that there existed a live round on set at any point in time is 100% the armorer's fault imo
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Yeah I don't get how that isn't the only consideration
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I think going after Alec in civil court is fair game but I do not think he's criminally responsible for anything, either. The armorer absolutely fricked up and it was her literal job to make sure this didn't happen lol.
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I believe that part of the argument is that because he was the producer on the set, he was also in-part responsible for the safety complaints that were being ignored in the weeks leading up to this incident. While the majority of the blame falls on the armourer, he was also negligent in his duties as a producer which also allowed for the circumstances of the shooting to occur.
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He pulled the trigger on a gun he didn't clear himself. The reason it's negligent to do so even when someone tells you it's clear is to prevent this specific thing from happening.
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