- Hannah Gutierrez-Reed has pleaded not responsible to expenses of involuntary manslaughter and proof tampering within the loss of life of Halyna Hutchins
The ammunition professional who equipped the Rust set solely supplied dummy rounds to the manufacturing, he testified in court docket as jurors have been proven footage of his chaotic workplace storage system.
Seth Kenney, an Albuquerque-based film firearms and ammunition provider, took the stand Monday on the trial of film armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, who’s charged with involuntary manslaughter and proof tampering within the loss of life of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.
Alec Baldwin, the lead actor and co-producer on Rust, fatally shot the cinematographer on set in 2021. He has individually been indicted on expenses associated to the capturing.
The end result of Gutierrez-Reed’s trial could hinge on testimony in regards to the supply of six dwell rounds found on the Rust set – together with the one from Baldwin’s gun. Live ammunition is expressly prohibited on film units by the business and union tips.
Kenney informed the court docket that he cleaned and repackaged ammunition to Rust that was beforehand equipped to a manufacturing in Texas, handing off a field of fifty inert dummy rounds containing no gunpower to the movie’s props supervisor on October 12, 2021.
But protection attorneys for Gutierrez-Reed, 26, confirmed the jury photos of Kenney’s ‘cluttered’ enterprise, a storage system with out written inventories, and highlighted his ‘hazy’ recollection of his timeline for receiving dwell rounds for an additional manufacturing.
Seth Kenney, an Albuquerque-based film firearms and ammunition provider, took the stand Monday on the trial of film armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed on Monday
Gutierrez-Reed is charged with involuntary manslaughter and proof tampering within the loss of life of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins (pictured). She was fatally shot by actor Alec Baldwin on the set of Rust in 2021
The jury was proven photos of Kenney’s ‘cluttered’ enterprise, a storage system with out written inventories
Kenney informed the court docket that he cleaned and repackaged ammunition to Rust that was beforehand equipped to a manufacturing in Texas , handing off a field of fifty inert dummy rounds containing no gunpower. Pictured are scenes from inside Kenney’s ‘cluttered’ workplace
Kenney testified Monday that he supplied Rust props grasp Sarah Zachry, who additionally managed weapons and ammunition for the manufacturing, with dummy ammunition retrieved from a props storage truck on the Texas set of the tv collection 1883.
‘Did you ever give any dwell ammunition to Sarah Zachry?’ prosecutor Kari Morrissey requested Kenney. He responded, ‘No.’
Responding to extra questions, Kenney stated he did not have any ammunition that seemed just like the dwell rounds investigators discovered on the set of Rust.
At the identical time, Kenney acknowledged he saved dwell rounds that have been utilized in a live-ammunition capturing train for actors on 1883, organized at a personal ranch of collection creator Taylor Sheridan.
Kenney stated the dwell rounds from that capturing train have been introduced again to his store, saved in a toilet inside a grey plastic container marked ‘dwell rounds’ on the surface.
The dwell rounds have been initially supplied to 1883 by Gutierrez-Reed’s step-father, the Hollywood sharp shooter and weapons advisor Thell Reed.
Investigators from the Santa Fe sheriff’s workplace searched Kenney’s Albuquerque provide store a number of weeks after the deadly capturing, seizing dwell rounds that have been despatched to the FBI for evaluation and comparability with dwell rounds found on the set of Rust.
Kenney acknowledged that on the time he equipped Rust, he additionally saved dwell rounds that have been utilized in a live-ammunition capturing train for actors on 1883. Pictured is {a photograph} taken from inside Kenney’s workplace
Defense lawyer Jason Bowles has argued that Kenney wasn’t correctly investigated for his position as a Rust provider. This {photograph} from Kenney’s workplace was proven to the jury
Bowles on Monday highlighted the truth that the search of Kenney’s enterprise befell a few month after the deadly capturing. PIctured: Dummy rounds saved within the provider’s workplace
Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, middle, sits along with her lawyer Jason Bowles, left, throughout testimony within the trial in opposition to her in First District Court, in Santa Fe, New Mexico on Friday, March, 1, 2024
Prosecutors say Gutierrez-Reed is accountable for unwittingly bringing dwell ammunition on set and that she flouted fundamental security protocols for weapons dealing with. She has pleaded not responsible. Special prosecutor Kari Morrissey is pictured through the trial on Thursday, Feb. 29, 2024
Defense lawyer Jason Bowles has argued that Kenney wasn’t correctly investigated for his position as a Rust provider. Bowles on Monday highlighted the truth that the search of Kenney’s enterprise befell a few month after the deadly capturing.
Kenney’s testimony additionally delved into his disagreements with Gutierrez-Reed about her job efficiency on the set of Rust in reference to a gun misfire – previous to the deadly capturing.
Testimony Monday additionally delved into proof associated to a tampering cost in opposition to Gutierrez-Reed. That cost stems from accusations that she handed a small bag of attainable narcotics to a different crew member after the capturing to keep away from detection.
A crew member from meals providers testified that she went to Gutierrez-Reed’s resort room the night after the deadly capturing to maintain the armorer firm on the request of a union steward.
She stated Gutierrez-Reed handed her some white powder in a plastic baggie inside one other baggie, and that she felt insulted and threw it right into a hallway rubbish container after leaving the room.
‘In equity, you in all probability had 5 seconds to take a look at this bag, is that proper?’ stated Bowles, the protection lawyer. ‘You have a perception, however you do not know for sure, what was in that bag.’
Jurors have been proven a video shot throughout manufacturing of Rust during which Alec Baldwin pointed the gun on the crew and forged members together with a 12-year-old boy between scenes
Baldwin, 65, who was the lead actor and a producer within the film, will face a separate trial in July for involuntary manslaughter, which he denies
Gutierrez-Reed can be going through a cost of tampering with proof after prosecutors claimed she gave one other particular person a bag of cocaine after a police interview to stop regulation enforcement from acquiring it
Prosecutors say Gutierrez-Reed is accountable for unwittingly bringing dwell ammunition on set and that she flouted fundamental security protocols for weapons dealing with. She has pleaded not responsible.
Defense attorneys say their consumer is being smeared and unfairly scapegoated for issues past her management, together with Baldwin’s dealing with of the weapons.
Baldwin, 65, was pointing the gun at Hutchins throughout a rehearsal on the set outdoors of Santa Fe when the gun went off, killing her and wounding director Joel Souza.
He was individually indicted by a grand jury final month on an involuntary manslaughter cost in reference to the deadly capturing of Hutchins. He has pleaded not responsible, and his trial is scheduled for July.