Rust assistant director ‘missed final gun safety check’ – as court shown footage of Alec Baldwin firing weapon
The assistant director of Rust has told a court he missed a final safety check on the gun that killed the film’s cinematographer – as footage of Alec Baldwin firing blanks before the fatal shooting was shown.
Hannah Gutierrez, the armourer responsible for the weapons on the set, is currently on trial in New Mexico and has pleaded not guilty to charges of involuntary manslaughter and tampering with evidence.
Baldwin, the star and co-producer of the western film, denies involuntary manslaughter and faces a separate trial in July. He has maintained that he never pulled the gun’s trigger.
Alec Baldwin faces a separate trial later this year
Rust cinematographer Halyna Hutchins died in October 2021 after a gun held by the Hollywood star, 65, went off during a rehearsal on the set on the outskirts of Santa Fe.
On Thursday, jurors were shown footage of Baldwin waving a gun before the fatal shooting.
They also heard from assistant director David Halls, who last year entered a plea bargain for negligent use of a deadly weapon, receiving a six-month suspended sentence.
He was emotional at times as he told Gutierrez’s trial: “I was negligent checking the gun properly.”
Halls told the court how Gutierrez showed him the rounds in the reproduction Colt 45 revolver and that he recalled “seeing three to four what I believed to be dummy rounds”, which looked “very distinctive” and different from live rounds.
However, he said he did not remember Gutierrez “fully rotating” the gun cylinder to show him all six rounds.
Asked if he let the safety check pass, he said: “I did.”
Hannah Gutierrez denies all the charges against her. Pic: Luis Sanchez Saturno/Santa Fe New Mexican/AP
Gutierrez then gave Baldwin the gun, he told the court. Gutierrez has not testified but told investigators she left the loaded gun in the hands of Halls.
His testimony also included an account of standing about a metre from Ms Hutchins when the single gunshot rang out. As she was on the ground, he asked if she was all right.
“She said, ‘I can’t feel my legs’,” he said.
Halls said he struggled to understand how a live round could have been fired. “The idea that it was a live round of ammunition that went off… it wasn’t computing,” he said.
Photos of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins have been shown during the hearing. Pic: Eddie Moore/The Albuquerque Journal/ AP
Halls and props supplier Sarah Zachry both told the court they did not recall Gutierrez rattle-testing rounds on set to check they were dummies.
Halls also defended Baldwin, saying the actor did not endanger safety by rushing production, as prosecutors allege.
Jurors were also shown footage of Baldwin waving a gun and firing blanks in front of crew members on the film set.
The actor can be heard shouting: “One more! One more! One more! Right away! Let’s reload!”
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Firearms expert Bryan Carpenter was taken through the footage and told the court Baldwin appeared to be firing “full flash” blanks.
Mr Carpenter said he believed Baldwin was “entirely too close” to crew members.
Lawyers for Gutierrez say problems on the set were beyond her control. Prosecutors say she is to blame for bringing live ammunition on set.
The trial continues.
Taylor Swift has revealed the release date for her new album, The Life Of A Showgirl.
The pop megastar announced her 12th studio album earlier this week but didn’t give many details.
Now, in social media posts and an appearance on boyfriend Travis Kelce’s sports podcast, Swift revealed just what fans can expect from the new album.
Taylor Swift and boyfriend Travis Kelce on the New Heights podcast. Pic: New Heights
The Life of Showgirl, written during the European leg of her record-breaking Eras tour, will be released on 3 October.
It consists of 12 songs, including the title track that features pop star Sabrina Carpenter.
The full track list is:
1. The Fate Of Ophelia
2. Elizabeth Taylor
3. Opalite
4. Father Figure
5. Eldest Daughter
6. Ruin The Friendship
7. Actually Romantic
8. Wi$h Li$t
9. Wood
10. Cancelled!
11. Honey
12. The Life Of A Showgirl (featuring Sabrina Carpenter)
Long-time collaborators Max Martin and Shellback, two Swedish producers who worked with Swift on some of her biggest hits, joined the pop star for this album.
Within four hours of posting the full podcast episode on YouTube, it had already gathered 4.7m views.
The cover of Taylor Swift’s newly announced album. Pic: Republic Records
The back cover of Taylor Swift’s 12th studio album The Life Of A Showgirl. Pic: Republic Records
‘The hardest-working star in pop’
The album follows last year’s The Tortured Poets Department, which was released during the Eras tour.
That tour, with shows on five continents and in 51 cities, raked in more than $2.2bn (£1.62bn) and was the highest-grossing tour of all time.
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“This album is about what was going on behind the scenes in my inner life during this tour, which was so exuberant and electric and vibrant,” Swift said during her podcast appearance.
Sky News culture and entertainment reporter Gemma Peplow said after her globe-trotting tour and a swathe of re-releases over recent years, the new album cemented Swift’s reputation “as the hardest-working star in pop”.
Disgraced US film producer Harvey Weinstein is to be tried for a third time in a sexual assault case.
A jury in New York could not reach a verdict in June against the 73-year-old who was accused of raping actress Jessica Mann, and a mistrial was declared.
Judge Curtis Farber has said he wants the new trial to happen before the end of this year.
The same jury found Weinstein guilty in June of sexually assaulting former Project Runway production assistant Miriam Haley in 2006 and not guilty of assaulting Polish former runway model Kaja Sokola the same year.
Weinstein will be sentenced for the guilty verdict in Ms Haley’s case on 30 September.
He denied all of the charges. Throughout the retrial, his lawyers insisted the sexual encounters with his three accusers were “transactional” and “consensual,” and labelled the women as opportunists.
Weinstein was originally convicted of rape and criminal sexual act by the same court in 2020 and sentenced to 23 years in prison for the crimes.
Last year, however, New York’s highest court overturned the conviction, prompting Weinstein’s retrial this summer.
Weinstein was once one of the most powerful people in Hollywood – the co-founder of film and television production companies Miramax and The Weinstein Company, who produced films such as the Oscar-winning Shakespeare In Love, Pulp Fiction, and The Crying Game.
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In 2017, a series of sexual misconduct allegations against him propelled the #MeToo movement.
Some of those accusations later led to criminal charges and his convictions in New York and California.
Before the retrial, Weinstein was also serving a 16-year prison sentence after being found guilty of rape in California in December 2022. He has also denied this charge.
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