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Tears in the courtroom: Former assistant director David Halls described in emotional testimony how cinematographer Halyna Hutchins was killed by a gunshot during a rehearsal on the set of the western ‘Rust’. Halls testified on Thursday (local time) in the ongoing criminal trial of gun master Hannah Gutierrez-Reed in Santa Fe (US state of New Mexico), who is accused of negligent homicide.

Halls said he was standing very close to Hutchins when lead actor Alec Baldwin operated the gun. He rushed to the camerawoman who was lying on the ground and asked her how she felt. She said she couldn’t feel her legs anymore, Halls said through tears.

The 42-year-old was fatally injured in the October 2021 incident at Bonanza Creek Ranch. Director Joel Souza was hit in the shoulder by the same bullet when the shot went off from a prop gun.

Halls, who was responsible for security during the shooting, was charged last year with negligence in handling a weapon. He admitted his guilt at the time and received a suspended sentence. Gutierrez-Reed has been in court since last week and could face jail time if found guilty. A manslaughter trial against Baldwin is scheduled for July.

Halls testified Thursday that he did not carefully inspect the gun that Gutierrez-Reed had previously loaded. He acts as a witness here because he wants the truth to come to light so that something like this never happens again during filming. One of the central questions in the trial is how the live ammunition ended up on the set. In addition to blank cartridges and so-called dummy cartridges, the researchers also found real cartridges. One of them ended up in the revolver cylinder during loading.

The trial against Gutierrez-Reed began with serious accusations, including against Baldwin. The suspect ignored the most important safety measures and caused the death of the camerawoman with her careless behavior, prosecutor Jason Lewis said in his opening statement.

Gutierrez-Reed’s lawyer Jason Bowles, on the other hand, accused the lead actor and producer Baldwin and other participants in the “Rust” production of gross errors in handling weapons. The producers ignored precautions to make a quick buck. His young client must now serve as a ‘scapegoat’ for the mistakes of others. (saw/sda/dpa)