Alec Baldwin told members of the “Rust” crew “One More! Right away!” before the fatal 2021 shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins later on the set in a video played at the trial.
During the trial of “Rust” armorer Hannah Guiterrez Reed, those in the courtroom watched outtakes from the movie and heard Baldwin shouting to the crew to hurry up and do another take of him firing shots, Variety reported. Reed has been charged with involuntary manslaughter. She pleaded not guilty in August.
In the clip, Baldwin was seen firing shots from an old pistol, and once the director said “cut,” the “Saturday Night Live” star shouted, “One more! One more! One more! Right away! Let’s reload!” the outlet noted.
The 24-year-old armorer was then seen hurrying to put more blanks in the gun and Baldwin said to her, “Here we go! C’mon. We should have two guns and both were reloading,” Variety noted.
Assistant director says armorer handed gun to Alec Baldwin before fatal shooting of cinematographer https://t.co/TpcDinY49H
— The Associated Press (@AP) March 1, 2024
Prosecutors played numerous videos claiming there was negligence on the set, something they said is both Baldwin and Reed’s fault.
“The evidence will show that the defendant [Guiterrez Reed] treated the safety protocols as if they were optional, rather than if people’s lives counted on her doing her job correctly,” one of the prosecutors, Jason J. Lewis, told the jury during opening arguments.
The prosecution also questioned veteran armorer Bryan Carpenter about Baldwin’s actions in the videos.
“Rushing with firearms and telling someone to rush with firearms is not normal nor accepted,” Carpenter testified. “In a situation like that, when you’re getting rushed to that extent, that’s when safety starts to fall by the wayside.”
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Carpenter also told the courtroom that there should’ve been two armorers on set, not just one.
The first assistant director on the “Rust” set David Halls testified, but said that until Hutchins was shot, the set was safe. He also defended both Baldwin and Reed.
“I don’t characterize that as Mr. Baldwin rushing people,” Halls said. “I characterize it as an actor in his moment — ‘I’m ready. OK, let’s go.’ There was never Mr. Baldwin rushing anybody.”
Last year, Halls pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor charge of negligent handling of a weapon, and served six months of unsupervised probation. He has since retired from the industry, Variety noted.
In October 2021, the “30 Rock” star was involved in the shooting of Hutchins on the New Mexico film set. The firearm Baldwin was holding discharged a bullet. Baldwin has repeatedly maintained that there was “no trigger pull.”
In January, the actor was charged with involuntary manslaughter and pleaded not guilty to the charge, as previously reported. His trial is set to take place in July.
The actor’s attorney Luke Nikas has maintained that Baldwin “had no reason to believe there was a live bullet in the gun – or anywhere on the movie set,” CBS News noted.
“He relied on the professionals with whom he worked, who assured him the gun did not have live rounds,” he added. “We will fight these charges, and we will win.”