[Film] Cinematographer Halyna Hutchins killed when Alec Baldwin fired a prop gun on a movie set

[The Clamp]

Blank firers do give out heat, flash and fragments. People often get minor burns on film sets from them. It’s possible that a blank can be prepped wrong or a 1 in a million piece of a dummy bullet can remain in the barrel from a previous shot.
Blanks are essentially modified real bullets, they are packed with cotton or paper rather than metal. It’s all conjecture on my part though but it can happen.
Blank firers are treated exactly like live firers on a film set and this is the reason why.

 

[Billy the Fish]

Reports now saying this was a live round.

I've read a few things on twitter from people in the industry saying Alec might be in some do do for not following safety protocols.

 

[Husty]

Reports now saying this was a live round.

I've read a few things on twitter from people in the industry saying Alec might be in some do do for not following safety protocols.

I mean it was obviously a live round? How else would someone be dead.

 

[Baldseagull]

I mean it was obviously a live round? How else would someone be dead.

It was a blank round that killed Brandon Lee, though there was something in the barrel that the blank launched when it was fired.

 

[Acker79]

[tweet]1451642709261774848[/tweet]

 

[nickbrighton]

Reports now saying this was a live round.

I've read a few things on twitter from people in the industry saying Alec might be in some do do for not following safety protocols.

I mean it was obviously a live round? How else would someone be dead.

In this context "live" means the gun is loaded with a blank bullet, rather than being empty. In that sense the gun is "live" not the bullet in it. Here is an article which goes into some of the detail.

From this report there seems to have been other issues with safety relating to guns on the set and other concerns

It always concerns me that in the USA, police documents, statements given to authorities etc all seem to be public almost as soon as they are made. In this case affidavits are quoted. So the idea of what happened is already being planted with selected official documents seemingly available to all and sundry- if charges are eventually brought preconceived ideas from this "evidence" surely cloud judgment of any potential jury?


https://www.darkhorizons.com/more-details-on-rust-shooting-emerge/

 

[Cheeky Monkey]

For him to have been aiming directly at her seems odd. Even if you wanted to to get 'head on' footage of him discharging the gun he wouldn't need to be aiming for her body mass surely...

 

[drew]

For him to have been aiming directly at her seems odd. Even if you wanted to to get 'head on' footage of him discharging the gun he wouldn't need to be aiming for her body mass surely...

I would guess he's aiming towards the camera and she and the director were in line. Apparently the director was standing behind her. It might even have been that she was behind the camera with director behind her. How often do we see a film shot looking down the barrel of a gun.

 

[KZNSeagull]

I would guess he's aiming towards the camera and she and the director were in line. Apparently the director was standing behind her. It might even have been that she was behind the camera with director behind her. How often do we see a film shot looking down the barrel of a gun.

Maybe, but I would have thought for a film set to be safe, that shot would be taken using a remote camera with no-one standing behind it. I find it difficult to believe that a real gun would ever be fired on a film set whilst being pointed directly at someone.

 

[Zeberdi]

Balwin + armorer to be charged with Involuntary Manslaughter

Alec Baldwin and armorer to be charged with involuntary manslaughter after fatal shooting of Halyna Hutchins on the set of 'Rust' | CNN

Alec Baldwin, the actor who fatally shot cinematographer Halyna Hutchins during a rehearsal for the Western movie "Rust" in 2021, and the film's armorer will be charged with involuntary manslaughter, prosecutors said Thursday.

edition.cnn.com

Can’t say I’m surprised it got to this nor would it make me particularly disappointed if he were convicted tbh. Everyone around live guns on film sets need to be more diligent- someone clearly dropped the ball on this one leading to a really tragic accident.

In a Country flooded with handguns, maybe this trial will be yet another stark reminder that in careless or inexperienced hands, handguns are lethal accidents waiting to happen.

 

[jcdenton08]

Case against Alec Baldwin dismissed with prejudice.

Alec Baldwin's Rust manslaughter case dismissed

The actor weeps as the trial collapses with a prosecutor quitting amid a row over a batch of bullets.

www.bbc.co.uk

Very dodgy goings on throughout the three years since this investigation has been ongoing.

The police and prosecution got given some potentially (but not definitely) exculpatory evidence they didn’t like, or didn’t feel was worth logging correctly, tried to bury it by not telling the defence during discovery, and “accidentally” put it in an unrelated case file. Hmmm.

Third day of the trial, someone tips off the defence, and the evidence is presented by the prosecution to the judge. (Lucky it didn’t “disappear”…)

The special prosecutor immediately quits at lunchtime upon learning what had happened, leaving the lead prosecutor to call themselves to the stand and try some damage control. (This is VERY rare). Which made things even worse when it was alleged on the stand by the defence that she had called Baldwin “a cocksucker” and other profanities in front of witnesses set to give evidence. Which did didn’t deny, instead saying she couldn’t recall having done that

Judge takes a recess then dismisses the case with prejudice, meaning the case can’t be brought back to trial.

What an absolute shit show.

 

[Albion my Albion]

Prosecutor who resigned from Alec Baldwin 'Rust' case says she wanted dismissal

Erlinda Ocampo Johnson said she believed in the manslaughter case against Alec Baldwin, but that withheld evidence meant the case should be dismissed.

www.nbcnews.com

Prosecutorial misconduct

Special prosecutor Erlinda Ocampo Johnson, who gave an opening statement accusing Baldwin of being reckless, said she knew the prosecution’s case was in trouble Friday when she learned that some rounds had not been turned over to the defense.

“It was clear that it was something that should have been turned over,” Ocampo Johnson told NBC News Friday night.

Ocampo Johnson resigned Friday and walked out of court even before a hearing could be completed about whether the evidentiary issue meant that Baldwin’s case should be dismissed, as his lawyers argued.

Special prosecutors Kari Morrissey, left, and Erlinda Ocampo Johnson during Alec Baldwin's trial in Santa Fe, N.M., on Wednesday.

Baldwin’s attorneys asked the judge to dismiss the case after it was revealed that Troy Teske, a former police officer and friend of Gutierrez-Reed’s stepfather, delivered Colt .45-caliber rounds to the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office on March 6 (the day of Gutierrez-Reed’s conviction).

Defense attorneys said they should have been told about the rounds.

Morrissey argued that the disputed ammunition was not linked to the case or hidden from Baldwin’s lawyers.

“There is no reason to believe that the evidence that we discussed in court today was related to the set of ‘Rust,’” Morrissey said after the case was dismissed. She said she disagreed with the judge’s decision but respected it.

Morrissey did not immediately respond to requests for additional comment on the case Friday.

 

[Albion my Albion]

Alec Baldwin weeps in court as judge announces involuntary manslaughter case is dismissed midtrial

A New Mexico judge has thrown out the involuntary manslaughter case against Alec Baldwin in the middle of his trial and said it cannot be filed again.

apnews.com

“The late discovery of this evidence during trial has impeded the effective use of evidence in such a way that it has impacted the fundamental fairness of the proceedings,” Marlowe Sommer said. “If this conduct does not rise to the level of bad faith it certainly comes so near to bad faith to show signs of scorching.”

 

[jcdenton08]

Alec Baldwin weeps in court as judge announces involuntary manslaughter case is dismissed midtrial

A New Mexico judge has thrown out the involuntary manslaughter case against Alec Baldwin in the middle of his trial and said it cannot be filed again.

apnews.com

“The late discovery of this evidence during trial has impeded the effective use of evidence in such a way that it has impacted the fundamental fairness of the proceedings,” Marlowe Sommer said. “If this conduct does not rise to the level of bad faith it certainly comes so near to bad faith to show signs of scorching.”

I appreciate this case is in the US, and not the UK, but any adversarial legal system requires good faith actors on all sides of the courtroom. A disinterested judge, an honest prosecution and a robust defence.

This appears to be, through a generous lens, incompetence rather than anything more sinister such as serious prosecutorial misconduct.

Either way, it’s a f*** up that really should never happen. Prosecutors/the CPS/the police aren’t above the law and can’t “disappear” evidence which hurts their case - which is exactly what they’ve done in this case whether they deem the evidence relevant or not. That’s for the judge to decide.

 

[B-right-on]

Sounds like the kind of DA you see in movies that want the publicity and fame of nailing someone famous and willing to hide evidence to get that.

What Alec Baldwin has been going through must be indescribable. To have accidentally killed someone and then go through this?

Wonder if this affects Gutierrez-Reed's conviction which isn't talked about.

On March 6, 2024, Gutierrez-Reed was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter and was sentenced to 18 months in prison. However, the charge of tampering with evidence was dismissed.

 

[bluenitsuj]

Correct decision.

 

[drew]

Sounds like the kind of DA you see in movies that want the publicity and fame of nailing someone famous and willing to hide evidence to get that.

What Alec Baldwin has been going through must be indescribable. To have accidentally killed someone and then go through this?

Wonder if this affects Gutierrez-Reed's conviction which isn't talked about.

On March 6, 2024, Gutierrez-Reed was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter and was sentenced to 18 months in prison. However, the charge of tampering with evidence was dismissed.

Someone brought live ammo on to the set and someone loaded that into a gun which was fired by Baldwin. Surely the armourer responsible for loading the gun is accountable. What I've never understood is why Baldwin was charged. There have been thousands of films in which guns have been used. You wouldn't expect actors to be responsible for checking the 'prop' they've been handed isn't loaded with live ammo!

 

[Triggaaar]

 

[Triggaaar]

Someone brought live ammo on to the set and someone loaded that into a gun which was fired by Baldwin. Surely the armourer responsible for loading the gun is accountable. What I've never understood is why Baldwin was charged. There have been thousands of films in which guns have been used. You wouldn't expect actors to be responsible for checking the 'prop' they've been handed isn't loaded with live ammo!

A lot of the time it would be impossible for an actor to check a prop after they've picked it up, because picking it up and using it would often be in one edit.

 

[Happy Exile]

Someone brought live ammo on to the set and someone loaded that into a gun which was fired by Baldwin. Surely the armourer responsible for loading the gun is accountable. What I've never understood is why Baldwin was charged. There have been thousands of films in which guns have been used. You wouldn't expect actors to be responsible for checking the 'prop' they've been handed isn't loaded with live ammo!

I read something this morning that said there was ambiguity over his role. If he was being charged as Producer of the film his accountability is considered high, if as an actor it's virtually non-existent. Turns out it was the latter, or his defence argued his role in this accident was the latter, but that ambiguity might explain why the charge was brought.