How could a real bullet end up in Alec Baldwin's gun on the set of the western “Rust” and kill his cameraman? That is the whole question of the trial of the gunsmith from the film, which began on Wednesday.
• Also read: Fatal shooting on film set: Alec Baldwin pleads not guilty
In two weeks of hearings, the American justice system will try to clarify the responsibility of Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, who is responsible for managing the weapons in this production.
Like Alec Baldwin, who will later face trial, this 26-year-old gunsmith is charged with involuntary manslaughter, a crime punishable by 18 months in prison.
The trial began Wednesday in Santa Fe with jury selection. The first arguments are not expected until Thursday in the New Mexico court hearing the case.
The filming of “Rust” in October 2021 on a ranch in this state in the southwest of the USA became a drama. Alec Baldwin had aimed a gun that was supposed to contain only blank bullets, but a very real projectile had killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and injured director Joel Souza.
This rare news shocked Hollywood and provoked calls for a ban on firearms on sets.
In this case, New Mexico prosecutors plan to charge Ms. Gutierrez-Reed with negligence that may have led to her using live bullets on set.
According to the prosecution, the gunsmith consumed cocaine, cannabis and alcohol outside of working hours and was probably hungover on the day of the tragedy.
Prosecutors particularly highlighted text messages in which she discussed her drug use. However, no toxicological analysis was carried out in the investigation, which was characterized by numerous weaknesses and twists.
AFP
“They want the jury to assume that Ms. Gutierrez-Reed used cocaine sometime before she started work on October 21, 2021,” her attorney Todd Bullion said last week, adding: “They have no evidence that this actually happened has happened.” .”
The gunsmith is also charged with falsifying evidence because she is suspected of giving a bag of cocaine to someone involved in the shooting in order to prevent investigators from finding it.
His defense plans to argue that it was an accident caused by the pressure of producing the film, which was scheduled to be shot in just 21 days on a relatively modest budget of $7 million.
The gunsmith had specifically requested additional days so that Alec Baldwin could receive training in the use of weapons, but this request was denied.
Mr. Baldwin, star of “Rust,” also served as a producer on the film.
The 65-year-old actor denies pulling the trigger and has always maintained that he was assured his weapon was harmless.
The involuntary manslaughter charges against him were first dropped last April after new investigative elements supported the theory of a premature shooting.
But in January he was charged again. Because according to Variety magazine, a new assessment of the weapon in question conducted this summer concluded that it could only be triggered by pulling the trigger.
The date for his trial, independent of that of the gunsmith, has not yet been set.
Another person involved in the shooting has already been convicted in this case.
The film's first assistant director, Dave Halls, was given a six-month suspended prison sentence last March after agreeing to plead guilty. He had handed the gun to Mr Balwin at the center of the drama and assured him that he was not dangerous.
Filming on Rust has since resumed and completed in Montana, with Halyna Hutchins' widower Matthew serving as executive producer.
At the end of 2022, he dropped the civil case he had initiated against Alec Baldwin following a settlement, the amount of which was not disclosed.