‘Rust’ trial turns chaotic in armourer’s case
At the Rust trial on February 28th, the defence inspected the Sheriff’s investigation, leading to the courtroom to descend into chaos.
The film’s armourer, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, is currently on trial for involuntary manslaughter following the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins in 2021 on set. The prosecution stated that Reed brought live ammunition onto the set when it wasn’t necessary for her to do so and claimed she was grossly negligent in that regard.
Corporal Alexandra Hancock, the lead investigator for the case, revealed recently that the prosecution can only provide circumstantial evidence to prove their case, and nothing directly supports their claim of manslaughter.
In his opening statement, lead prosecutor Jason Lewis put to the jury that Reed brought live ammunition onto the set as early as October 10th, 2021. This was 11 days before the actual incident occurred, and they claim it shows negligence on Reed’s part to have failed to notice it within that time.
However, in favour of the defence, upon cross-examination, Hancock agreed that Reed would have had “no idea” when the live rounds were initially brought onto set. Therefore, they suggested in the courtroom that this makes it difficult for the prosecution to prove that Reed was negligent.
The defence attorney, Jason Bowles, criticised the Sheriff’s Office for not carrying out what he would perceive to be a thorough investigation regarding the live ammunition that came and when it would have likely appeared on set. Additionally, detectives from the Sheriff’s office failed to question Joe Swanson. Swanson is the dummy manufacturer whose initials, JS, appeared on the side of the dummy box found on the set.
Hancock answered by saying their investigation focused more on the shooting itself as opposed to where the bullets came from. She said, “Really, what’s important to law enforcement were the circumstances of what occurred that day and the facts and the evidence of what occurred during the incident.”
The court case began on February 22nd and is expected to last two weeks. If Gutierrez-Reed is found guilty, she could face a maximum of three years in prison. Furthermore, Alec Baldwin will also take to the stand this summer following a manslaughter charge.
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