SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Complaints by a movie weapons supervisor to managers went unheeded as she sought more time and resources to fulfill safety duties on the set of the Western movie “Rust,” where actor Alec Baldwin fatally shot a cinematographer, a workplace safety investigator testified Tuesday at trial.
Defense attorneys for armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed called the inspector among their first witnesses to refute allegations of involuntary manslaughter in the fatal shooting of a cinematographer Halyna Hutchins during a rehearsal in October 2021.
Lorenzo Montoya, of the New Mexico Occupational Health and Safety Bureau, conducted a six-month investigation of the shooting and whether managers affiliated with Rust Movie Productions complied with state workplace safety regulations.
His inspection produced a scathing narrative of safety failures in violation of standard industry protocols, including observations that weapons specialists were not allowed to make decisions about additional safety training and didn't respond to Gutierrez-Reed's complaints. The report also found that managers took limited or no action to address two misfires on set before the fatal shooting and requests to provide more training.
Defense attorneys argue that Gutierrez-Reed, who has pleaded not guilty, is being unfairly scapegoated for problems beyond her control, including Baldwin’s handling of the weapons on the set of the Western movie.
Montoya said Gutierrez-Reed's requests for more time and resources as an armorer went unheeded.
Montoya said,“Rust Movie Productions identified a hazard, they adopted firearms safety policies, but they totally failed to enforce them, train their employees on them, practice them, reference them. Nothing. They adopted it, and it stopped at the word adoption. Nothing further happened.”
In a counterpoint to those findings, prosecutors previously introduced testimony from on-set producer Gabrielle Pickle that she responded to gun-safety concerns on the set of “Rust” by providing more days — 10 days, increased from five — for Gutierrez-Reed to devote to her armorer duties, instead of other responsibilities in the props department.
Prosecutors say Gutierrez-Reed is to blame for unwittingly bringing live ammunition on set and that she flouted basic safety protocols for weapons handling.
In other testimony Tuesday, state Occupational Health and Safety Bureau Chief Robert Genoway said “Rust” producers should have known about hazardous conditions on set and taken action before the fatal shooting. He set the initial fine against Rust Movie Productions at the maximum under state law of $130,000.
Rust Movie Productions paid a $100,000 fine to resolve the state workplace safety findings.
Former homicide detective Scott Elliott, an expert witness for the defense, highlighted shortcomings in the investigation that led to charges against Gutierrez-Reed, noting that she was confined to a police car in the immediate aftermath of the shooting while other witnesses including Baldwin commingled and made phone calls.
