Murder of Galina Hutchins on set: 'Rust' assistant director sentenced

Rust's first assistant director has been sentenced to six months of unsupervised probation as part of a plea deal in connection with the on-set shooting and death of cinematographer Galina Hutchins. Writes about it ABC News.

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David Halls, 63, charged with negligent use of a lethal weapon in connection with the October 2021 shooting on the set of a Western in Santa Fe (Texas). Halls handed Alec Baldwin a .45 Colt revolver, which fired while the actor was practicing crossfire and hit Hutchins. Lawyers for Halls and Baldwin said neither knew the firearms contained live ammunition.

During a virtual plea hearing, Halls did not contest the misdemeanor charge. He answered questions from the judge but made no further statements about the incident.

On the subject: Alec Baldwin sues 'The Rust' crew members for Galina Hutchins' death

“He, like so many others, is extremely traumatized and just overwhelmed with guilt and questions of how he could have done things differently and changed everything,” explained his lawyer Lisa Torraco.

She asked the judge to stay the sentence and argued that his role as security coordinator was not to control how people handled guns, but to ensure security meetings were held.

“Halls is in a lot of pain. He was 3 feet (1 m) away from Hutchins when the shot occurred. Nobody expected this,” said Torraco.

Prosecutor Kari Morrissey argued that, as safety coordinator, Halls was responsible for keeping firearms free of live ammunition, and that the set had a history of firearm-related security issues.

“Obviously it was a very serious incident. A young woman lost her life,” Morrissey said, asking for a suspended sentence.

Judge Mary Marlow Sommers ultimately sided with the prosecution, telling Halls, "I'm not convinced that a stay of sentence is right for you in this case."

In addition to six months of unsupervised probation, the terms of the sentence include that Halls must pay a $500 fine, perform 24 hours of community service, complete a 60-day security course, testify at all shooting-related hearings, and not have contact with colleagues, defendants or witnesses.

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Alec Baldwin and the film's gunsmith Hannah Gutierrez-Reid were charged with manslaughter in connection with Hutchins' death.

Baldwin pleaded not guilty to the charges against him and also denied pulling the trigger. Lawyer Gutierrez-Rid said that her client does not intend to plead guilty, and she has no idea how the live ammunition ended up in the gun.

Both are due to appear in court at a preliminary hearing on May 3.

As ForumDaily wrote earlier:

• On October 21, 2021, on the set of the film, Hollywood actor Alec Baldwin accidentally shot the cameraman and wounded the director. The Ukrainian woman was killed. Sources claim that she could have filmed her own death.
• Court records show that weapons were readily available gunsmith and film director's assistant. And judging Alec Baldwin is illogical. Although it was he who was under the gun because of the fact that he is famous.
• According to sources, the set was in complete chaos with weapons. Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, the gunsmith on the set of this film, was the subject of numerous complaints while working as a gunsmith on her previous and first film, The Old Way.
• The police are checking information on Alec's phone Baldwin.
• In November, the head of the lighting team on the set of the western Rust, Sergey Svetnoy filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles (California) because of the shooting on the set.
• Alec Baldwin gave an interview in December for the first time since the death of cameraman Galina Hutchins, in which he stated that he did not pull the trigger of the revolver.
• The family of the murdered operator of the western "Rust" Galina Hutchins February 15 filed a wrongful death lawsuit against actor Alec Baldwin and film producers, citing cost-cutting measures as the cause of the tragedy. Relatives of the deceased accused Baldwin and others of reckless behavior.
• FBI forensics on the murder of Galina Hutchins assure that the gun could not fire on its own; Baldwin pulled the trigger though he denies it. Court blamed for the murder of Galina Hutchins exclusively on Alec Baldwin.
• Later it became known that Alec Baldwin reached an out-of-court settlement with relatives cinematographer Galina Hutchins.
• In turn, Baldwin filed a lawsuit against several people associated with the filming of the film "Rust".
• The prosecutor's office stated that file two counts of manslaughter against Baldwin: he was obliged to ensure that weapons and ammunition were properly checked; he should never have directed it at anyone.
• On February 10, New Mexico prosecutors filed a formal indictment against Baldwin for manslaughter. Now he faces another lawsuit. from the Hutchins family, this time from her parents Anatoly Androsovich and Olga Solovey, as well as sister Svetlana Zemko.
• Baldwin won a key legal battle, as a result of which the charge of extended use of firearms in the murder of Galina Hutchins was dropped. This has drastically reduced the potential prison term he faces.
• February 24 Alec Baldwin didn't show up for the first meeting trial for the murder of Galina Hutchins.
• In early March, it became known that three crew members who worked on the set of "Rust" filed a lawsuit against Alec Baldwin and the producers of the film.
• Read the stories of the worst tragedies and accidents that occurred directly on the set in our material.

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