A key figure who was expected to testify against Alec Baldwin for his alleged role in the Rust shooting tragedy has argued that the death of Halyna Hutchins was not the fault of just one person.
In a deposition (sworn evidence) recorded in December, and obtained by Variety, first assistant director Dave Halls labelled the tragedy a “system failure”.
“I think it’s just a tragic series of mistakes that happened,” Halls alleged, according to Variety.
“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.”
Baldwin and armourer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed are both facing two counts of involuntary manslaughter following the shooting death of cinematographer Hutchins in October 2021.
On the set of the Western filmed in New Mexico, Baldwin allegedly fired a prop gun, killing Hutchins and critically injuring director Joel Souza in the process.
Prosecutors are readying themselves for the trials of Baldwin, who also served as a producer on the film, and Gutierrez-Reed, and will attempt to prove that there was underlying negligence.
For the second count, they will need to prove there was more than underlying negligence involved in her death, which adds a mandatory penalty of five years in jail.
‘Not one thing’
According to prosecutor District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies, Halls has signed a plea agreement for the charge of negligent use of a deadly weapon. That could mean he is placed on six months of probation.
Several conflicting accounts have emerged on how the firearm was handled on the day of the incident.
The widely-reported alleged narrative is that Halls was the person to hand Baldwin the gun, saying it was safe to use.
Halls has denied this. He says he checked the gun with Gutierrez-Reed – and she was allegedly the one who handed it to Baldwin.
Gutierrez-Reed recalls things differently. She alleges she handed the gun to Halls, who then allegedly passed it on to Baldwin.
Rust crew members also have conflicting accounts – some claim they saw her give the gun directly to Baldwin; others claim she handed it to Halls, who then gave it to the actor.
Baldwin has also shared varying accounts. He initially alleged that it was Gutierrez-Reed who handed him the weapon, but later claimed that it was Halls.
‘Cold’ detail
There’s also discrepancy on who cleared the weapon for usage.
Varying accounts have emerged on who declared the firearm “cold” – meaning it does not contain ammunition.
This is a key point of contention. Hutchins was allegedly killed by a single round of live ammunition.
It’s unclear how the live round found its way into the prop gun, or who had declared the firearm “cold”.
Baldwin had initially claimed that neither Gutierrez-Reed or Halls had informed him that the weapon was safe to use, and had assumed it was “cold”.
He later changed his story, alleging it was Halls who had given him the go-ahead.
Souza claimed Halls had assured a gun was “cold” earlier that day, but was unable to recall whether he had done so before the incident.
Both Gutierrez-Reed and Halls have denied declaring the weapon “cold”.
In his deposition, Halls alleged he had no recollection of saying so, but that he allegedly did “have recollections of Hannah (Gutierrez-Reed) saying it”.
But Gutierrez-Reed said she doesn’t like the term “cold gun” – and never uses it.
“I know [the term] got thrown around a lot on the set,” she testified.
“That was mostly Dave’s terminology.”
Proper procedure
Although those involved are at odds over who cleared the weapon, the reality is that there are no binding rules or regulations for how firearms should be handled on set in the US.
Shortly after the shooting took place, a California-based film set expert, Chapman University’s Professor Dan Leonard told the BBC that it was largely left to the industry to develop and monitor guidelines.
However, there has been some progress in this area following Hutchins’ death.
Just hours after her death, Hutchins’ former American Film Institute Conservatory directing classmate Bandar Albuliwi proposed an industry-wide, on-set ban for real firearms.
He then created a petition to ban firearms on change.org, called ‘Halyna’s Law’.
The Screen Actors Guild issued a statement after it was announced that Baldwin was facing charges.
It said that it was not an actor’s job “to be a firearms or weapons expert”.
Legislation is yet to come into effect, but the New Mexico Occupational Health and Safety Bureau have issued Rust Movie Productions with the maximum possible fine of nearly $US137,000 ($184,000) for firearms safety failures.
