Expert Testimony on Alec Baldwin Shooting Trial: Firearms Specialist Sheds Light on Gun Safety Regulations and Operation

2024-02-28 12:13:00
Firearms expert Lucien Haag gave a long demonstration of the operation of a single-action Colt revolver, like the one Baldwin wielded (Luis Sanchez Saturno/REUTERS)

Court testimony from an independent gun expert on Tuesday cast new doubt on Alec Baldwin’s account that his gun was fired without pulling the trigger in the fatal shooting of a cinematographer during a 2021 rehearsal on the set of the Western movie “Rust.”

Baldwin has pleaded not guilty to involuntary manslaughter with a trial scheduled for July in the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins during a rehearsal for the film outside Santa Fe.

“Rust” setter Hannah Gutierrez-Reed is on trial for her possible involvement in the death, pleading not guilty to charges of involuntary manslaughter and tampering with evidence. The gunsmith’s trial has complex implications for Baldwin, who has not appeared in court.

Hannah Gutierrez-Reed at a moment during the trial (Luis Sánchez Saturn0/Santa Fe New Mexican via AP)

On Tuesday, firearms expert Lucien Haag gave a lengthy demonstration of the operation of a Colt single-action revolver, like the one Baldwin wielded, and of the safety devices that prevent a fully cocked hammer from striking and firing ammunition unless the trigger is pulled.

An FBI expert testified in court Monday that the revolver used by Baldwin worked perfectly with safety devices when it arrived at an FBI laboratory. The expert testified that he had to hit the fully loaded gun with a sledgehammer and break it in order for it to fire without pulling the trigger.

Haag, an Arizona-based consultant and expert on Old West firearms, testified Tuesday that he saw no evidence that the gun was broken or modified before being tested by the FBI.

“Have you seen any evidence that the full-lock hammer or notch was filed or modified to allow for faster firing?” asked prosecutor Kari Morrissey. “No,” Haag responded.

Haag and a colleague reassembled the gun with only one damaged part – the hammer – to demonstrate that the safeties continued to work anyway, stopping the hammer in various circumstances when the trigger was not pulled.

An FBI expert testified in court Monday that the revolver used by Baldwin worked perfectly with safety devices.

The jury watched a video of that experimentation with Baldwin’s gun, as the hammer was pulled back and released multiple times, each time stopped by a safety notch before it might hit the ammunition chamber to fire the gun.

“If you try to cock the gun and lose your grip, the hammer falls and the safety notch catches it,” Haag explained.

The Santa Fe detective leading the “Rust” investigation said she was notified that the FBI would perform tests on Baldwin’s gun that might damage or destroy it.

“We proceeded with the tests because Mr. Baldwin had stated that he had not pulled the trigger. And I think his exact statement was that the gun just went off,” said Alexandra Hancock, a detective with the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office. “So we needed to figure out how to disprove that theory, or that statement. And that was the way that was proposed to us, and that was what the FBI might do.”

Gutierrez-Reed’s defense attorneys say problems on the set of “Rust” were beyond their client’s control and have pointed out deficiencies in evidence collection and interrogations following the fatal shooting. They say “Rust’s” main ammunition supplier, Seth Kenney, was not properly investigated.

Hancock delved into his investigation of both Gutierrez-Reed and Kenney during his extensive testimony Tuesday, while reviewing a series of videotaped interviews with Gutierrez-Reed on the set of “Rust” immediately following the Oct. 21, 2021, shooting. , later that same day in an interrogation room and once more weeks later. Gutierrez-Reed has not testified at trial, although he has been present behind the defense table.

Initial video from a police lapel camera shows a crestfallen Gutierrez-Reed shortly following the fatal shooting.

“Welcome to the worst day of my life,” the point guard told the detective following the shooting, but before learning of Hutchins’ death. “I can’t believe Alec Baldwin was holding the gun.”

Hannah Gutierrez-Reed. Gutierrez-Reed on set following fatal shooting (Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office via The New York Times)

Prosecutors highlighted inconsistencies in Gutierrez-Reed’s videotaped statements, discrediting his claim that he had inspected all the cartridges in Baldwin’s gun before the shooting, shaking them for a telltale rattle. That shake can identify inert blank cartridges in which the gunpowder has been replaced by pellets, but researchers say at least one cartridge contained no pellets and was marked as blank by a hole in the side.

Hancock testified that he initially investigated Kenney as a possible source of live ammunition, which is expressly prohibited on movie sets, but discovered that he never went to the set of “Rust” and that a search of his property in Albuquerque turned up live cartridges that They did not resemble the actual cartridges later discovered on the set of “Rust,” including the cartridge that killed Hutchins.

A photo of a bullet like the one that killed Hutchins (Luis Sánchez Saturno/Santa Fe New Mexican via AP)

Meanwhile, Gutiérrez-Reed told investigators in November 2021 that he recovered loose ammunition from a bag left over from working on a previous film, verified that they were fake cartridges, and brought the cartridges in two boxes to the set of “ “Rust.” He said the ammunition was first in his car for two weeks.

Asked regarding possible sabotage by cast or crew members, Gutierrez-Reed dismissed the idea, saying no one there was “that malicious.” Six members of the film crew walked off the job the night before the fatal shooting in a dispute over working conditions.

Gutierrez-Reed also previously told investigators, including Hancock, that Baldwin spoke on the phone during a firearms training session for “Rust,” indicating he may have been distracted.

Defense attorneys did not yet have a chance to question Hancock on Tuesday.

Prosecutors maintain that Gutierrez-Reed is guilty of bringing live ammunition to the set and that he considered basic gun safety protocols optional. They say six real cartridges found on the set of “Rust” have identical characteristics and do not match the real cartridges seized from the film’s supplier in Albuquerque.

(With information from AP)

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