Fatal shooting on set: First assistant director sentenced after pleading guilty

“No dispute, your honorDavid Halls answered the question of how he wanted to claim. Rusty’s first assistant director, who also served as the security coordinator on the set, was the “last line of defense,” prosecutor Kari Morris said, and had to check every cartridge in the gun to make sure it was. A lot of empty bullets. As reported by Variety, he was sentenced to six months’ probation on Friday for negligent use of a deadly weapon, making him the first person to be held responsible for the death of the film’s director, Halina Hutchins.

David Halls is expected to give a preliminary hearing in May as prosecutors charge actor Alec Baldwin and the film’s gunsmith, Hannah Gutierrez Reed, with manslaughter.

Progress of events

Before the accident, David Halls inspected the gun before handing it to Alec Baldwin, who stated that Halls handed him the gun and noted that it was “cold,” meaning it only had blanks in it. Meanwhile, Hannah Gutierrez Reed loaded the gun and said she gave it to Hall and then left the building before Baldwin arrived.

Experts on the use of guns on the set accuse David Halls of handling the gun, saying that only a blacksmith and an actor should have it. The latter denied giving it to Alec Baldwin under oath and said it was Hannah Gutierrez Reed who gave it directly to the actor. He also testified that he did not say the gun was “cold.” However, Halls admitted in his initial interview with the sheriff that he should have checked all the cartridges, but did not.

At Friday’s hearing, his attorney said the aide could not control how others handled the gun, but agreed not to contest a plea to “make things easier for the family.”

Now it’s Alec Baldwin and Hannah Gutierrez Reed’s turn: if found guilty, both face up to 18 months in prison.