David Halls, the first assistant director on “Rust,” pleaded no contest on Friday to a misdemeanor charge of negligent use of a deadly weapon, making him the first person to be held accountable for the shooting death of the film’s cinematographer, Halyna Hutchins.
Halls, who was the film’s safety coordinator, appeared remotely for a plea hearing before a Santa Fe judge. Asked how he wished to plea, he answered, “No contest, your honor.”
He will not serve jail time. Instead, he will serve six months of unsupervised probation.
He is also expected to testify at a preliminary hearing in May, as prosecutors pursue involuntary manslaughter charges against actor Alec Baldwin and the film’s armorer, Hannah Gutierrez Reed.
Halls was in the church building at the Bonanza Creek Ranch in Santa Fe, N.M., on Oct. 21, 2021, when Hutchins was killed by a single shot from Baldwin’s Colt .45.
Gutierrez Reed loaded the firearm, which was supposed to contain only dummy rounds. Baldwin was holding it when it fired, though he has denied pulling the trigger.
Halls checked the weapon before it was handed to Baldwin, though the precise nature of his involvement remains in dispute. Baldwin has said that Halls handed him the weapon and declared it a “cold gun,” meaning it did not contain any blank rounds. Gutierrez Reed has also said that she handed it to Halls, and then left the building before Baldwin arrived.
Experts in the use of weapons on set have faulted Halls for handling the gun, saying that only the armorer and the actor should hold it.
Halls has denied under oath that handed the gun off to Baldwin, saying he remembers Gutierrez Reed giving it directly to the actor. He has also testified that he did not say “cold gun.”
At the plea hearing on Friday, prosecutor Kari Morrissey read a statement about Halls’ culpability in the shooting.
“He is the last line of defense. He needed to check and confirm that the rounds in the gun were actually dummy rounds,” she…
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