Two weeks after the accident that claimed the life of a filmmaker on the set of "Rust", the defense lines of the lawyers seem to be emerging.
This fatal shot could be the result of "sabotage", said Wednesday the lawyers representing the gunsmith who had loaded the lethal weapon used by actor Alec Baldwin during a rehearsal.
Hannah Gutierrez-Reed was the gunsmith in charge of this western shot in New Mexico, where cinematographer Halyna Hutchins was fatally injured on October 21.
She was hit by a live bullet that was in the revolver that had been handed to Alec Baldwin and presented it to him as a harmless weapon.
Lawyers for the young gunsmith told NBC television that their client loaded the gun with ammunition from a box of dummy cartridges, and that she did not know the source of the live bullet responsible for the gunshot. 'accident.
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“We're assuming someone must have put the live ammunition in this box.
Come to think of it, the person who put that live ammunition in the dummy cartridge box must have wanted to sabotage the set, ”Bowles said.
"This is the only reason to do such a thing," insisted the lawyer.
"Hannah was hired to occupy two positions on this film, which made it very difficult for her to concentrate on her position as gunsmith," they already defended five days ago.
No arrests have taken place at this stage of the investigation, but the courts have not ruled out possible criminal proceedings if responsibilities were established.
The Santa Fe County Sheriff, who is overseeing the investigation, said "there was a certain carelessness on this plateau."
"Unattended firearms", according to the lawyer
Many media have mentioned the departure of operators employed on the set a few hours before the tragedy, due in particular to concerns about safety instructions and demands on their working conditions.
Pressed to say why a member of the team might have wanted to sabotage the western, Jason Bowles referred to those employees.
“There are people who left the shoot, who left because they were unhappy,” he said.
"There is a period of time, approximately between 11 am and 1 pm that day, during which the firearms were sometimes unattended" and during which the sabotage could have taken place, assured the lawyer.
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Why did the gunsmith of the shoot, responsible for watching over the guns and making sure they were safe, left these guns unattended?
Mr Bowles replied that Hannah Gutierrez-Reed was also acting as an “assistant prop” at the request of the production of “Rust”, and that she was fulfilling that role at the time of the accident.
On Monday, the assistant director, who handed actor Alec Baldwin the loaded gun, spoke for the first time since the drama.
In a statement, he said he was "sad and shocked" after losing "a friend", referring to the victim.
Last week, he admitted to investigators that he had not checked all the cartridges loaded in the weapon before the fatal shot of director of photography Halyna Hutchins.
