Dave Halls, first assistant director of Western “Rust,” was sentenced Friday in the on-set shooting death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, marking the first conviction for the death of 2021 that rocked Hollywood.
A New Mexico judge has approved the set director’s plea deal with prosecutors on a charge of negligent use of a deadly weapon for his role in the death of Hutchins on a movie set outside of Santa Fe.
The sentencing marked a step forward for state prosecutors plagued by legal setbacks since filing charges in January against actor Alec Baldwin and others who handled the weapon that was killed Hutchins.
District Court Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer sentenced Halls to a six-month suspended sentence with unsupervised probation, a $500 fine, 24 hours of community service and a gun safety course.
Hutchins was killed when Baldwin fired a live round from a revolver during a rehearsal. As first assistant director, prosecutors said Halls was responsible for on-set security on “Rust.”
“Halls did not check every cartridge in the gun to confirm that it was a dummy cartridge and not an actual cartridge,” state attorney Kari Morrissey said during the hearing. virtual advocacy.
Halls, an industry veteran with more than 80 credits including ‘The Matrix Reloaded’ and ‘The Crow: Salvation,’ was the only ‘Rust’ cast and crew member to reach a plea bargain. . Prosecutors said he approached them and cooperated.
It remains unclear whether he will testify on behalf of the prosecution at a preliminary hearing in May where Marlowe Sommer will decide whether there is probable cause to try Baldwin and gunsmith Hannah Gutierrez-Reed.
Baldwin pleaded not guilty to a criminal charge of manslaughter. The actor said he relied on weapons experts – Gutierrez-Reed and Halls – to ensure the firearm was safe to use.
Gutierrez-Reed, who was in charge of security and firearms training, will also plead not guilty, according to his attorney.