Luis Sánchez Saturn/Santa Fe New Mexican via AP, Pool
“We seemed to always be rushed and under the gun,” a key crew member on the troubled Rust film told a New Mexico jury today in the involuntary manslaughter trial of armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed.
Describing the Alec Baldwin-starring indie western as “budgetarily restricted” and in a constant “state of chaos,” dolly grip Ross Addiego testified that the film was “moving at ludicrous speeds, racing the production clock” in its initial two weeks of production in Santa Fe. Amid tears, Addiego also gave detailed and emotional remarks about what happened on the set when Rust cinematographer Halyna Hutchins was fatally shot in October 2021.
One of the few members of Rust’s camera department who opted to stay on the movie after disputes about money and safety, Addiego bluntly told Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer, the jury and others in the courtroom that “safety seemed to be secondary” on the set. He was in the room when the 1880s prop gun that star-producer Baldwin was holding fired and killed Hutchins and wounded director Joel Souza.
Taking the jury and others deep inside the fatal shooting and aided by glitchy video from that day, he gave a detailed minute-by-minute rundown of the rehearsal scene in the church set on the Bonanza Creek Ranch. Earlier during Addiego’s testimony, Gutierrez-Reed could be seen leaning over at the defense table and whispering to her main lawyer Bowles.
With his voice cracking, Addiego spoke of his shock when the gun went off and a bullet struck Hutchins and Souza. “It went off and instantly … you know a firearm went off in a small wooden church, so the concussion, ears ringing, that moment of panic in everybody,” he said in an understated tone. “I think the first person I made eye contact with was Halyna, who was clearly injured by whatever that gunshot was, that noise we had just heard. And in fact, she was starting to go flush … holding her right side.”
Earlier, under questioning by special prosecutor Kerri Morrissey, industry vet Addiego made a blunt but polite point of stating that Gutierrez-Reed “wasn’t necessarily as serious or professional as I’m accustomed to with the other armors that I’ve worked with.”
“It seemed inappropriate, out of the ordinary that those firearms weren’t secured,” Addiego added as an example of the relatively inexperienced Gutierrez-Reed’s alleged disorganization on set. “I don’t know that they’re completely under the armorer’s control if they’re not under lock and key.” He noted that firearms often were left on carts as the defendant juggled her double duty as armorer and assistant prop master on the low-budget film.
Source: https://deadline.com/2024/02/rust-armorer-trial-latest-1235838920/