The filming of “Rust” turned into drama in October 2021 on a ranch in New Mexico, in the southwest of the United States.
Alec Baldwin had pointed a weapon supposed to contain only blank bullets, but a very real projectile had killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and injured director Joel Souza.
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This rare news item shocked Hollywood and provoked calls to ban firearms on sets.
Like actor Alec Baldwin, who must be tried later, the gunsmith in the film is being prosecuted for involuntary manslaughter, a crime punishable by 18 months of imprisonment.
His trial begins this Wednesday, with debates scheduled for two weeks.
This trial rests on a key question: how did a real bullet end up in a gun held by Alec Baldwin on the set of the western “Rust”?
American justice will therefore try to determine the responsibility of Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, the 26-year-old gunsmith, responsible for managing the weapons on this production.
New Mexico prosecutors plan to charge the young woman with negligence.
In addition, according to the prosecution, the gunsmith consumed cocaine, cannabis and alcohol outside of her working hours, and was probably hungover on the day of the tragedy.
Prosecutors highlight in particular text messages where she talks about her drug use.
But no toxicological analysis took place during the investigation, marked by numerous weaknesses and twists and turns.
“They want the jury to assume that Ms. Gutierrez-Reed ingested cocaine at some point before going to work on October 21, 2021,” her lawyer Todd Bullion said last week, adding: “They don’t have no evidence that this actually happened.”
The gunsmith is also being prosecuted for tampering with evidence.
She is suspected of having given a bag of cocaine to a member of the filming to prevent investigators from finding it.
For its part, the gunsmith's defense plans to plead the thesis of an accident which occurred due to the pressure exerted by the production of the film, which was to be shot in just 21 days on a relatively modest budget of 7 million dollars. .
She had notably requested additional days to allow Alec Baldwin to train in weapons handling, but this request was rejected.
Alec Baldwin's trial will come later.
Actor Alec Baldwin will be tried later.
The 65-year-old actor has always denied pulling the trigger and has always maintained that he was assured that his weapon was harmless.
The involuntary manslaughter charges against him were first lifted last April, after new investigative elements could support the thesis of an untimely shooting.
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But he was charged again in January.
Because according to Variety magazine, a new assessment of the weapon in question, carried out this summer, concluded that it could only have been triggered by pressing the trigger.
Already another member of the filming has been convicted in this case.
The film's first assistant director, Dave Halls, received a six-month suspended prison sentence last March, after agreeing to plead guilty.
He had handed the gun at the heart of the drama to Alec Baldwin, assuring him that it was not dangerous.
Filming on “Rust” has since resumed and been completed in Montana, with Halyna Hutchins’ widower, Matthew, serving as executive producer.
At the end of 2022, he abandoned the civil proceedings he had initiated against Alec Baldwin at the end of an agreement the amount of which was not disclosed.