'Rust' armorer said she checked dummy rounds 'most of the time' as defense still blames Alec Baldwin for negligence

The armorer for the movie "Rust" was revealed to have stated in an interview that the dummy rounds she had on-set were from a previous film she worked on, noting that she checks all of the dummy rounds "most of the time."

Armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed is on trial for involuntary manslaughter stemming from the death of Halyna Hutchins, a cinematographer who was killed after Alec Baldwin fired a gun on the set of "Rust" that was supposed to have dummy rounds in it but instead had a live round.

Gutierrez-Reed, who was 24 at the time, has been accused by the prosecution of bringing a box of dummies that had multiple live rounds in it. She loaded the gun Baldwin used.

Jurors were shown a police interview with Gutierrez-Reed from November 2021 during which she said she used dummies on "Rust" that were actually left over from a previous movie, "The Old Way," a Western action film with Nicolas Cage. Gutierrez-Reed had worked on the film a few weeks earlier.

"I went back through a bag that I had," the armorer said in the interview, Variety reported. "This bag had a bunch of loose dummies in it. I went through and I checked all of them, and I put them into two boxes. … They were in my car for like two weeks," she added.

Later in the interview, Gutierrez-Reed said that she typically shakes each dummy round to see if it rattles, which is reportedly a safety feature that lets users know the rounds can't be fired.

"I am shaking all of them most of the time," Gutierrez Reed, using words that were highlighted by the prosecution.

"Most of the time," prosecutor Kari Morrissey emphasized to the jury.

Gutierrez-Reed faces more than 18 months in prison if convicted. Her defense has maintained that she was not responsible for bringing the live bullets onto the set and has blamed the movie's gun and ammunition supplier, Seth Kenney.

Attorney Jason Bowles has argued that Gutierrez-Reed has been smeared and scapegoated, the New York Post reported.

Actor Alec Baldwin will face trial in July 2024 for involuntary manslaughter charges. He has maintained that he did not pull the trigger, with his defense questioning whether the gun was functioning properly at the time of the shooting.

While the FBI claimed it was not possible for the gun to fire without the trigger pull, the FBI was blamed by Baldwin's defense for breaking the gun during its testing. An FBI examiner hit the gun with a mallet to see if it would accidentally fire from the force and broke three components of the gun.

Lucien Haag, a firearms expert who examined the Colt .45 used by Baldwin, testified that the live rounds used on the set of "Rust" were "hand loaded." Meaning, they were made by an individual, rather than a manufacturer.

Haag testified that the gun was indeed working properly before the FBI analyzed it.

Gutierrez-Reed's defense lawyers have not disputed the gun's functionality but have blamed Baldwin for negligently pulling the trigger.

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