Lead Detective in Alec Baldwin Case to Testify, Convicted Gunsmith May Be Called in ‘Rust’ Trial

SANTA FE, NM — The lead detective in the shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of the movie “Rust” will likely be on the stand for most of Friday at Alex Baldwin The involuntary manslaughter trial in New Mexico, as prosecutors try to cast the movie star as a reckless horseman with a gun in his hand and the defense tries to portray him as a working actor just doing his job.

Cpl. Alexandria Hancock of the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office only became chief investigator two weeks after the October 2021 shooting, but conducted the first interviews of “Rust” gunsmith Baldwin Hannah Gutierrez-Reed and assistant director David Halls, the three people criminally charged in the case.

Hancock was on the stand for a brief period later in the day on Thursday and will continue his direct questioning by the prosecution on Friday, before undergoing what will likely be a lengthy cross-examination by the defense as they try to poke holes in an investigation that unfairly suggested. focused on Baldwin.

Before Hancock took the stand, Italian gunmaker Alessandro Pietta testified Thursday about quality control in the manufacturing process of the gun eventually acquired by an Albuquerque-based gun and ammunition supplier for “Rust” and handled by Baldwin in the fatal shooting. It was shipped in 2017, and Pietta last examined the gun in 2018 through a sales and distribution company.

The gun’s provenance, and its use for several years at trade shows, is under the microscope as defense attorneys raise concerns that the gun may have been modified or may otherwise fire in some circumstances without pulling the trigger. kitten.

Baldwin claimed the gun went off accidentally after he followed instructions to point it at Hutchins, who was behind the camera. Unaware it was loaded with a live bullet, he said he pulled the hammer – not the trigger – and fired.

Both Pietta and a sales distributor who handled the gun as recently as September 2021 testified that the revolver was in good working order and had not been modified.

Pietta testified that the gun’s hammer will only fall when the trigger is pulled.

“If you want to let go of the hammer, you have to pull the trigger,” he said in court.

But Pietta also noted that standard practice is to only load the gun — a remake of a 19th-century revolver — with five rounds, not six, to ensure the firing pin doesn’t rest on a live round. Gun experts, including an FBI forensics expert, acknowledge that the revolver can fire if pressure is applied to the hammer while it is resting on a live bullet.

Before Hancock returns to the stand, Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer will consider stunning testimony from Thursday about a “good Samaritan” who walked into the sheriff’s station with what he told authorities was the ammunition supply from which the bullet that came from killed Hutchins, following his conviction earlier this year of Gutiérrez-Reed for involuntary manslaughter.

The issue arose during the defense’s cross-examination of the sheriff’s crime scene technician, Marissa Poppell. Baldwin’s attorney, Alex Spiro, suggested with his questions that Poppell and other authorities were overly friendly with the film’s firearms supplier, Seth Kenney, and insufficiently investigated whether he was responsible for the fatal ammunition that arrived. to the set.

Spiro asked Poppell if the “good Samaritan” had brought the ammunition to the sheriff’s department, and she said yes and that she had written a report about it, denying that she had “buried” it to keep it from the defense.

Spiro asked if the man “said you all were fooled by Seth Kenney.” Poppell said he didn’t remember that.

The prosecution reacted dismissively to the suggestion that the man’s allegations were legitimate.

Special Prosecutor Kari Morrissey established in her cross-examination that the source of the ammunition was Troy Teske, a friend of Gutierrez-Reed’s father with motivations to redirect blame, and despite the similarities, the bullets were not the same size as the actual ammunition found. in “Rust,” including the one that killed Hutchins.

Morrissey sought to further defend Kenney’s role in questioning Hancock.

“Have you uncovered any evidence throughout your investigation that Seth Kenney provided live bullets to the set of ‘Rust?’” Morrissey asked. Hancock said no.

Kenney was not charged with any wrongdoing. An email sent to his attorney seeking comment was not immediately returned.

Gutierrez-Reed’s attorney said he was told prosecutors will try to call her to testify.

The lawyer, Jason Bowles, told The Associated Press in an email that Gutierrez-Reed will assert her Fifth Amendment rights against self-incrimination if called because she has an appeal pending against her conviction.

The judge refused to grant a pretrial request from prosecutors to grant Gutierrez-Reed immunity for his testimony.

She is serving an 18-month sentence, the same sentence Baldwin will face if convicted.

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Dalton reported from Los Angeles.

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