The gunsmith accused of letting a live bullet enter Alec Baldwin’s gun on a movie set became distraught in court as he watched footage of the crew member the actor shot dead.
Hannah Gutierrez-Reed closed her eyes and shook her head as photos of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins’ bloody body were shown to the jury.
Gutierrez-Reed, 26, put his fingers to his nose and looked down, apparently fighting back tears as one of his lawyers rubbed his shoulder to offer comfort.
She is charged with involuntary manslaughter for her role in Hutchins’ accidental death in October 2021 on the set of the Western film Rust.
Hannah Gutierrez-Reed closed her eyes and shook her head as photos of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins’ bloodied body were shown to the jury Tuesday.
Hutchins, a 42-year-old mother of one, suffered “significant blood loss” and the injury to her right lung was “lethal,” a doctor testified Tuesday.
Baldwin, 65, who was the film’s lead actor and producer, will face a separate trial in July for involuntary manslaughter, something he denies.
Gutiérrez-Reed pleaded not guilty at the trial in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Baldwin, 65, who was the film’s lead actor and producer, will face a separate trial in July for involuntary manslaughter, which he denies.
Both Baldwin and Gutierrez-Reed face up to 18 months behind bars if convicted.
Dr. Heather Jarrell, chief medical investigator at the medical examiner’s office in Albuquerque, told jurors that, as is standard practice, she took photographs of Hutchins’ body before cleaning it.
He told the jury the images showed a “gunshot entry wound in the right armpit region.”
Gutierrez-Reed initially closed her eyes and shook her head and appeared upset as the images were shown.
He finally opened his eyes and looked at the images, which Dr. Jarrell said showed the bullet entered his right armpit.
The cause of death was a gunshot wound to the chest.
Dr Jarrell said: “It entered the right side of the chest, entered the right chest cavity, damaged some blood vessels, broke a rib, entered the right lung and came out through the right chest cavity, right next to the spine vertebral, through the spinal cord, through the soft tissue of the back’
Hutchins, 42, a mother of one, suffered “significant blood loss” and the injury to her right lung was “lethal,” Dr. Jarrell said.
After leaving Hutchins’ body, the bullet hit Rust director Joel Souza in the shoulder, but he survived.
Dr Jarrell said she concluded the killing was not homicide, which she described as a “volitional act caused by another to cause fear, harm or death”.
She said: “Looking at the material I obtained through police reports, it was clear to me that there was no obvious intention to cause death.” That doesn’t mean there wasn’t negligence.
Dr. Jarrell said other medical examiners might have certified the death as a homicide, but she said it was “clear to me that there was a belief on set that the firearm was not loaded with live ammunition.”
Gutierrez-Reed is charged with involuntary manslaughter and also faces a charge of tampering with evidence.
In a dramatic moment, a firearms expert showed jurors the real firearm Baldwin used to shoot Hutchins.
Baldwin was originally charged with involuntary manslaughter, but the charges were dropped in April of last year. He was dramatically charged again last month and pleaded not guilty.
In a dramatic moment, a firearms expert showed jurors a firearm similar to the one Baldwin used to shoot Hutchins.
Lucien ‘Luke’ Haag said the gun was in “proper working condition” when it was brought to the FBI for analysis.
Haag checked the gun for bullets when he first took it out of the box and checked it again before showing it to the jury.
State District Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer also asked to make sure everything was clear before Haag stood in court and explained the firing mechanism to jurors.
Haag said Baldwin could not have fired the real bullet that killed Halyna Hutchins without pulling the trigger.
Baldwin has repeatedly claimed that he never did it and that he only removed the hammer.
But Haag said there was nothing dangerous about the scene where Baldwin was shooting when he opened fire “as long as you don’t load (the gun) and pull the trigger.”
Haag is the second gun expert to contradict Baldwin, and earlier in the trial, Bryce Ziegler, an FBI firearms unit agent who examined the gun he used, said the trigger had to have been pulled.
Under questioning by prosecutor Kari Morrissey, Haag said Baldwin’s gun was in “proper working condition” the day Hutchins was shot to death.
Morrisey asked: “Have you seen any evidence that the entire hammer notch has been filed or modified to allow for faster firing?”
No, said Haag, an expert in gun crime scene reconstruction who has provided evidence in hundreds of cases in the United States, Guam, Northern Ireland and Canada.
Baldwin claimed in an interview that what happened to him was similar to “fanning,” a technique used in Western films to fire multiple bullets at the same time.
Morrisey asked: ‘Even if the gun’s firing pin was damaged on October 21, 2021, would the trigger still have to be pulled for the gun to fire?’
Haag said, “Yes, the trigger would have to be pulled, the hammer would have to be in the fully cocked position.”
Haag told jurors that he had studied videos of Baldwin removing the gun from its holster on the set of Rust hours before the fatal shooting.
According to Hagg, there was “really” nothing for the gun to get caught on, as the hammer was so secure that it would not move even if it caught on something, while the trigger was “well protected.”
Shocking images of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins’ blood-stained shirt were shown to the jury on Friday.
Gutierrez-Reed also faces a charge of tampering with evidence after prosecutors say she gave another person a bag of cocaine after a police interview to prevent authorities from obtaining it.
The jury heard that in the days after the fatal shooting, Gutierrez-Reed repeatedly pestered a crew member to return a bag of cocaine he had given her.
The court previously heard that Gutierrez-Reed gave the crew member, named Becca, a bag of white powder hours after the shooting and asked her to keep it.
When Becca left the room and realized what it was, she threw it away, the court was told.
The allegations led to Gutierrez-Reed being accused of tampering with evidence, which she denies.
Jurors were shown text messages sent by Gutierrez-Reed to a crew member named Courtney on Oct. 23, 2021, two days after Hutchins was shot and killed.
He asked for Becca’s phone number, which Courtney appears to have given him.
In an Oct. 23 message, Gutierrez-Reed asked Becca, “Hey, I might go to Albuquerque and I was wondering if I can get that stuff?”
A follow-up message sent shortly after said, “Becca, call me when you get a chance.”
Becca responded that she was in Jemez, New Mexico, working.
On November 7, Gutierrez-Reed wrote to Becca saying he would come to Albuquerque the next day and would be there for a week.
Becca said she was in Roswell, New Mexico, filming another movie.
Gutierrez-Reed responded: ‘Hey Becca, do you mind if my brother-in-law picks up my stuff after Thanksgiving? He lives in Albuquerque.
On November 13, Gutierrez-Reed wrote to Courtney: ‘Could Becca leave my things with you?’
Courtney responded, “I asked him to and I hope he does it.”