SANTA FE, N.M. — Courtroom testimony from an independent gun expert on Tuesday cast new doubt on Alec Baldwin’s account that his gun went off without pulling the trigger in the fatal shooting of a cameraman during a 2021 rehearsal of the set of the western movie “Rust. “
Baldwin has pleaded not guilty to manslaughter with a trial set for July in the death of cinematographer Halina Hutchins during a film rehearsal on the outskirts of Santa Fe.
“Rust” gunman Hannah Gutierrez-Reid is currently on trial for her possible role in the death, pleading not guilty to manslaughter and tampering with evidence. The gunman’s trial has complicated implications for Baldwin, who did not appear in court.
On Tuesday, firearms expert Lucien Haag provided a lengthy demonstration of the workings of a single-action Colt revolver, like the one held by Baldwin, and safety features that prevent a fully cocked hammer from striking and firing ammunition unless the trigger is is pressed.
An FBI expert testified in court Monday that the revolver used by Baldwin was fully functional with safety features when it arrived at an FBI lab. The expert said he had to hammer the fully cocked weapon and break it to fire without pulling the trigger.
Haag, an Arizona-based consultant and expert on Old West firearms, testified Tuesday that he saw no evidence the gun was broken or modified before it was tested by the FBI.
“Did you see any evidence that the full-cock hammer or the groove was filed or modified to allow for a faster rate of fire?” prosecutor Carrie Morrissey asked. “No,” Haag replied.
Haag and a colleague reassembled the gun with only one damaged part—the firing pin—to show that the safety features still functioned—stopping the firing pin under various circumstances when the trigger was not pulled.
The jury watched a video of this experiment with Baldwin’s gun as the firing pin was pulled back and released several times — and each time caught by a safety notch before it could hit the ammunition chamber to fire the gun.
“If you’re trying to cock the gun and you lose your grip on it, the hammer falls — that safety notch catches it,” Haag said.
The lead Santa Fe detective on the Rust investigation said she was notified that the FBI would perform tests on Baldwin’s gun that could damage or destroy the gun.
“We proceeded with the testing because Mr. Baldwin had made statements that he did not pull the trigger. And I think his accurate statement was that the gun just went off,” said Alexandra Hancock, a detective with the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office. “So we had to figure out how to disprove that theory or that claim. And that was the way that was suggested to us and what the FBI could do.
Defense attorneys for Gutierrez-Reid say the problems on the set of “Rust” were beyond their client’s control and have pointed to deficiencies in evidence gathering and interviews after the fatal shooting. They say Rust’s main ammunition supplier, Seth Kenny, was not properly investigated.
Hancock delved into his investigation of both Gutierrez-Reid and Kenny during extensive testimony Tuesday as he reviewed a series of videotapes of interviews with Gutierrez-Reid on “Rust,” which is set in the immediate aftermath of the shooting of October 21, 2021, a day later in the interrogation room, and again weeks later. Gutierrez-Reed did not testify at the trial, although she was present at the defense table.
Initial video from a police lapel camera shows Gutierrez-Reed slumped over shortly after the fatal shooting.
“Welcome to the worst day of my life,” the gunman told the detective after the shooting, but before she learned of Hutchins’ death. “I can’t believe Alec Baldwin was holding the gun.”
Prosecutors highlighted inconsistencies in the videotapes of Gutierrez-Reed’s statements, debunking her claim that she checked all the rounds in Baldwin’s gun before the shooting, shaking them for telltale rattles. This shaking can identify inert dummy cartridges where the gunpowder has been replaced with BBs, but researchers say at least one cartridge did not contain BBs and was marked as a dummy by a hole in the side.
Hancock testified that she initially investigated Kenny as a potential source of live ammunition, which is specifically prohibited on movie sets, but learned that he had never been on the set of “Rust” and that a search of his property in Albuquerque live ammunition that did not resemble live bullets was found later on the set of Rust, including the bullet that killed Hutchins.
Meanwhile, Gutierrez-Reed told investigators in November 2021 that she retrieved loose ammunition from a bag left over from work on a previous film, checked that they were dummies and brought the rounds in two boxes to the “Rust” set. She said the ammunition first sat in her car for two weeks.
Asked about possible sabotage by actors or crew members, Gutierrez-Reid dismissed the idea and said no one was “that malicious.” Six members of the film crew walked off the job the night before the fatal shooting in a dispute over working conditions.
Gutierrez-Reed also previously told investigators, including Hancock, that Baldwin was talking on his phone during a firearms training session for “Rust,” indicating he may have been distracted.
Defense attorneys had not yet had a chance to question Hancock on Tuesday.
Prosecutors say Gutierrez-Reid was guilty of carrying live ammunition on set and that she flouted basic gun safety protocols. They say six live rounds found on the set of “Rust” have identical characteristics — and do not match live rounds seized from the film’s supplier in Albuquerque.
