(NewsNation) — The armorer of “Rust” who was convicted of involuntary manslaughter earlier this year could be called to testify at actor Alec Baldwin’s trial Friday.
Baldwin currently faces the same charges in connection to the 2021 fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the New Mexico film set. He had pleaded not guilty.
During a rehearsal, Baldwin was using a gun meant to be loaded with dummy rounds when he allegedly pointed it at the camera and fired, killing Hutchins and wounding director Joel Souza.
While the actor has maintained he did not pull the trigger on the weapon and that it fired by accident, FBI analysts disputed this upon examining the gun.
Armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, the person responsible for keeping track of weapons used in the movie, is currently serving an 18-month prison sentence for involuntary manslaughter.
Prosecutors alleged she was negligent for not realizing live rounds had been mixed in with a box of dummy rounds. Gutierrez-Reed’s lawyers, meanwhile, say she was scapegoated by others working on the film. Producers had failed to keep the set safe and did not hold enough safety meetings, they said.
Lawyers for Gutierrez-Reed told NewsNation she will be invoking her 5th Amendment right, which protects people from giving information that could incriminate them.
This story is developing. Refresh for updates.