David Halls, the first assistant director of the Western film "Rust," was jailed on Friday for the on-set shooting death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, marking the first conviction for the 2021 tragedy that stunned Hollywood.
A court in New Mexico authorized the set manager's plea agreement to a charge of the negligent use of a deadly weapon for his role in the death of Hutchins on a film set outside Santa Fe.
The conviction represented a step forward for state prosecutors beset by court setbacks since they charged actor Alec Baldwin and others who handled the gun that killed Hutchins in January.
Halls was given a six-month suspended sentence with unsupervised probation, a $500 fine, 24 hours of community service, and a guns safety lesson by District Court Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer.
Hutchins was killed when Baldwin shot a live round from a handgun while rehearsing. According to prosecutors, Halls was responsible for "Rust." set safety as first assistant director.
"Halls did not check every round in the gun to confirm it was a dummy round and not a live round," stated state prosecutor Kari Morrissey at the virtual plea hearing.
Halls, a veteran of the film industry with more than 80 credits, including "The Matrix Reloaded" and "The Crow: Salvation," was the only member of the "Rust" cast and crew to enter a plea bargain.
Uncertain is whether he will testify on behalf of the prosecution during a preliminary hearing in May, where Marlowe Sommer will determine whether probable cause exists to prosecute Baldwin and armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed.
Baldwin pleaded not guilty to involuntary manslaughter, claiming he relied on weapons experts Gutierrez-Reed and Halls to ensure the pistol was safe.
According to her attorney, Gutierrez-Reed, responsible for firearm safety and training, will likewise plead not guilty.
'COLD GUN'
There are very few if any, precedents for a Hollywood actor facing criminal charges for a gunshot that occurred on set.
Authorities could not determine who brought live ammunition into the scene, which is strictly prohibited by the industry.
Halls' attorney, Lisa Torraco, stated, "Never in anyone's wildest dreams, never, never in anyone's imagination did anyone think there could be a live round in the firearm."
She said that Halls was suffering from "survivor's guilt" because he had only tested the gun for blank cartridges, which produce an explosive bang and muzzle flash, and dummy rounds used on film sets.
Gutierrez-Reed has stated that she loaded the live round that killed Hutchins, mistaking it for a dummy. However, the chain of events leading to Hutchins' death remains unclear.
Halls, according to a 2021 police report, informed Baldwin that the firearm was a "cold gun", an industry phrase indicating that it did not contain bullets with an explosive charge, before passing it over.
In December, Halls testified to New Mexico's worker safety bureau that Gutierrez-Reed muttered "cold gun" and handed Baldwin the revolver. The armourer informed the department that she had never used that term and that Halls provided Baldwin with the weapon.
Under the involuntary manslaughter accusation, prosecutors must prove not only that Gutierrez-Reed and Baldwin were careless in their pistol handling but also that they disregarded Hutchins' safety intentionally.
