The 26-year-old gunsmith herself loaded the weapon which accidentally led to the death of a person present during filming.
Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, the gunsmith in the film Rust of Alec Baldwin, found guilty of manslaughter.
During the filming of the western in New Mexico in 2021, American actor and producer Alec Baldwin handled a firearm, supposed to be only a prop.
But the weapon was loaded with live ammunition and the director of photograph Halyna Hutchins, 42, died instantly.
The film’s gunsmith, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, was found guilty of negligence resulting in death. The members of the jury notably considered that as responsible for the weapons on the set, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed should have carried out checks of the ammunition before the weapon was handled.
Although the charges against him were initially dropped by the prosecutor in charge of the case, Alec Baldwin will finally betried for manslaughterfrom July 9.
The 65-year-old American actor, who should have starred in the film Rust which he co-produced, pleaded not guilty during his pre-trial detention.
Alec Baldwin told investigators he did not pull the trigger. According to him, the shot would have gone off on its own while he was handling the weapon – which he otherwise thought being just a filming prop that he didn’t imagine would be loaded with live bullets.