Rust assistant director David Halls is expected to testify AGAINST Alec Baldwin and armorer when they face manslaughter charges – as it’s revealed he denies handing the actor the weapon or calling out ‘cold gun’ on set
- Rust’s assistant director is expected to testify against Alec Baldwin
- David Halls was previously accused of giving Baldwin a loaded gun on set
- In December, Halls blamed Halyna Hutchins’ death on a ‘system failure’
The assistant director of Rust is expected to testify against Alec Baldwin when the star faces trial on charges of involuntary manslaughter following the shooting death of director of photography Halyna Hutchins on set in October 2021.
Prosecutors have secured David Halls’ testimony in their case against Baldwin and Rust’s armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, reports Variety. Baldwin accidentally shot-and-killed Hutchins after being given a loaded gun during filming.
Previous witnesses have said that Halls handed Baldwin the gun and that he declared it a ‘cold gun’ despite the presence of live ammo in the chamber, according to a search warrant. ‘Cold gun’ is a term used on sets to notify that live ammo isn’t being used.
In a December deposition with the New Mexico Occupational Health and Safety Bureau, Halls denied giving Baldwin the gun, saying he gave it to Gutierrez-Reed. He also accused Gutierrez-Reed of declaring ‘cold gun.’
Halls also compared the death of Hutchins as comparable to a plane crash in that it wasn’t any one person’s fault but rather ‘a system failure.’
David Halls, the first assistant director on the set of Rust, is likely to testify against Alec Baldwin
In November, Baldwin had launched a lawsuit against Halls, in addition to other production staff
Halls has signed a plea agreement for the negligent use of a deadly weapon in the case that included six months of probation.
The New Mexico Occupational Health and Safety Bureau launched a lawsuit against Rust’s producers following the shooting.
Halls told the deposition that he had no ‘recollection’ of saying ‘cold gun’ adding, ‘I have recollections of Hannah saying it.’
‘It’s just like what they say about an airplane crash. It’s like it’s just not one thing, y’know. It’s a system failure.’
Heather Brewer, spokeswoman for the Santa Fe district attorney, told Variety, ‘We are aware of the apparent contradictions in the testimony. However, we are confident that there is more than enough evidence to demonstrate negligence and to secure justice for Halyna Hutchins.’
Gutierrez-Reed has previously told investigators that she gave the gun to Halls not knowing it contained a live round. She said she never said ‘cold gun’ on set.
She told the deposition: ‘I don’t like the term “cold gun.” I know it got thrown around a lot on the set. That was mostly Dave’s terminology.’
Hutchins was the cinematography director of the film and is shown here on her Instagram page
Baldwin has openly defied pulling the trigger, but this contradicted an FBI analysis of the vintage Colt handgun that fired the fatal shot
‘If any one of these three people – Alec Baldwin, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed or David Halls – had done their job, Halyna Hutchins would be alive today. It’s that simple,’ said Andrea Reeb, the special prosecutor appointed by the DA to the case, earlier this month.
Baldwin has vowed to fight the charges – and blame for who was responsible for the shooting has already been playing out in the courts.
In November, Baldwin filed a lawsuit against Gutierrez Reed, Halls, prop supplier Seth Kenney and prop master Sarah Zachry. He alleges negligence and seeks damages to be determined at trial for the ‘immense grief’ he endured.
His lawsuit stems from a previous suit in which another member of the crew, Mami Mitchell, sued Baldwin and others for emotional distress and negligence for ignoring red flags over firearms safety on set. She will be allowed to pursue damages against Baldwin and his production company El Dorado Pictures.
And in a third civil case, Hutchins’ widow in October reached an undisclosed settlement in the wrongful death lawsuit filed Baldwin and others.
FBI testing uncovered a total of five live rounds of ammunition among the movie’s prop weapons, six if you count the bullet that went off, killing Hutchins and wounding writer-director Joel Souza.
Producer and actor Baldwin fired the prop gun (pictured) that killed one crew member and injured another on the set of the movie ‘Rust’ in New Mexico
The DA’s case will primarily focus on the actions of Baldwin, assistant director Dave Halls, who Baldwin claims handed him the weapon and armorer Hannah Gutierrez Reed, who was responsible for equipping the firearms on the movie
Baldwin has openly denied pulling the trigger, but this was contradicted an FBI analysis of the vintage Colt handgun that fired the fatal shot.
‘With the hammer at full cock, the revolver could not be made to fire without a pull of the trigger while the working internal components were intact and functional,’ according to the report.
The FBI analysis confirmed there were several other live rounds of .45 calibre ammunition present on the Rust set on the day Hutchins died, some of them on costumes of other actors in the scene.
All the bullets were embossed with the ‘Starline Brass’ logo, a company that supplies materials for homemade bullets.
Two loose.45 rounds were collected from the top of a prop cart. A third was in a bandolier worn by one of the performers, and a fourth was found in a brown holster, according to the outlet.
Hutchins died on the set of the film ‘Rust,’ after being shot by a gun being held by Alec Baldwin
The 42-year-old cinematographer was killed on October 21, 2021, on set at Bonanza Creek Ranch in Sante Fe during rehearsals of the American Western Film
The report didn’t indicate which belt belonged to which actor, but a source close to the production told Vanity Fair the bandolier belonged to the character played by Supernatural actor Jensen Ackles, and the holster was Baldwin’s.
The fifth live round was found in a box of dummy ammunition, fake bullets made to look like the real thing.
This container ‘is the suspected box Hannah was loading the firearm with,’ the report states.
‘This box contained 36 suspected dummy rounds, and one suspected live round, which is the cartridge that was tested.’
It remains unclear how the bullet got into the container, but the report included a fingerprint testing of the box.
‘Hannah is identified as the only person of interest with positive result identification of latent prints on the ammunition box.’
A fingerprint analysis of the bullet had not been done, something Gutierrez Reed’s attorney, Jason Bowles, questioned.
Gutierrez Reed’s father, longtime movie armorer Thell Reed, had reached out to investigators to suggest that the live ammunition may have been introduced to the set by prop supplier Seth Kenney.
Investigators searched his Albuquerque shop in November 2021 to examine live rounds Thell Reed said the supplier had once used to train actors at a shooting range.
‘The chemistry testing revealed all the powder in these cartridges were uniform, however did not match the cartridges collected on the set of Rust,’ the report stated.
The phones of Gutierrez Reed, Halls, and other figures in the case were examined by detectives, and messages about safety concerns before the shooting were also included in the report.
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