'Rust' armorer manslaughter trial set for closing arguments

Closing arguments were expected on Wednesday in the manslaughter trial of "Rust" weapons handler Hannah Gutierrez for the 2021 fatal shooting of the movie's cinematographer, Halyna Hutchins.

Ten days of testimony have focused on whether the young, relatively inexperienced armorer endangered fellow crew and cast members in her handling and supervision of firearms on the low-budget production set in New Mexico.

Just after lunch on Oct. 21, 2021, Gutierrez mistakenly loaded a live round into a reproduction Colt .45 revolver that actor Alec Baldwin was using inside a movie-set church outside Santa Fe.

Baldwin cocked the gun, pointed it toward the camera, and it fired, killing Hutchins and wounding director Joel Souza. Baldwin denies having pulled the trigger. His own manslaughter trial is set for July 10.

Should Gutierrez be found guilty of involuntary manslaughter and a separate charge of evidence tampering she could face up to three years in state prison.

State prosecutors and defense lawyers have fought over the source of six live rounds found on set. Live ammunition is not allowed on sets.

A Santa Fe detective cited "circumstantial evidence" that Gutierrez unknowingly brought the rounds to "Rust" from a previous production. Gutierrez's lawyer Jason Bowles repeatedly blamed props supplier Seth Kenney, who has not been charged.

On Tuesday, two New Mexico worker safety officials called by the defense said "Rust" producers were ultimately to blame for Hutchins' death due to what they called their willful disregard for industry-wide firearms safety rules.

That followed testimony from half a dozen "Rust" crew members called by prosecutors that safety meetings were skipped, that Gutierrez sometimes failed to check whether weapons were loaded, and that Baldwin broke basic firearms safety rules.

The movie's first assistant director, Dave Halls, already convicted in the case, was a lone figure defending the behavior of both Gutierrez and Baldwin during his testimony.

Prosecutors made no direct reference to accusations they had made prior to the trial that Gutierrez may have been impaired on the day of the shooting due to alleged use of marijuana, alcohol and cocaine on evenings after filming.