Rust armourer trial – live: Court hears closing arguments in Alec Baldwin shooting

The trial of Alec Baldwin, who is facing manslaughter charges in the shooting death of “Rust” cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, will begin on 9 July with jury selection.

Opening statements by special prosecutors and the actor’s defense attorneys will take place the following day, and proceedings are expected to last eight days.

Baldwin, the lead actor and a co-producer on the film, pleaded not guilty in January, the day before he was scheduled to be arraigned.

A grand jury had indicted him after prosecutors received a new analysis of the revolver he was using during filming, renewing a charge that prosecutors originally filed and then dismissed in April 2023.

The trial of the armourer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed who gave Alec Baldwin a gun on the set of the doomed movie Rust that led to the accidental shooting death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins is nearing an end.

Here’s what we know so far:

Firearms expert Frank Louis Blair Koucky III – who was testifying for the defence on Tuesday –  shocked the court when he pointed an unloaded revolver in the judge’s direction to demonstrate it was unloaded.

Seconds earlier, as he began displaying a firearm he’d brought for demonstration purposes, the judge informed him to make sure the weapons were unloaded.

“Everybody’s nervous because you have not demonstrated to us they are unloaded,” District Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer said.

“So before you start showing us the weapons, make sure they’re unloaded, including that one you just touched.”

He then pointed the gun in the direction of the judge, drawing gasps from the courtroom.

Watch live as closing arguments are expected in the involuntary manslaughter trial of Alec Baldwin’s Rust armourer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed on Wednesday, 6 March.

Ms Gutierrez-Reed faces involuntary manslaughter charges in the shooting death of Halyna Hutchins.

Albuquerque-based movie firearms and ammunition supplier Seth Kenney testified at trial Monday that he only provided inert dummy rounds to the Rust film crew, though he also was handling live rounds from another production at that time.

Mr Kenney told a jury he cleaned and repackaged ammunition to “Rust” that was previously supplied to a production in Texas, handing off a box of 50 inert dummy rounds containing no gunpower to the “Rust” props supervisor on 12 October 2021.

He said also said he scrubbed the exterior of the rounds and cleaned out residue inside in each of them to ensure the telltale rattle of a metal pellet inside dummy rounds could be heard for safety purposes.

The outcome of trial may hinge on testimony about the source of six live rounds discovered on set — including the one from Mr Baldwin’s gun. Live ammunition is expressly prohibited on movie sets by the industry and union guidelines.

Closing arguments in the trial of “Rust” armourer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed are expected today.

Gutierrez-Reed is facing two counts of involuntary manslaughter and one count of witness tampering connected to the shooting death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins in October 2021.

Gutierrez-Reed has pleaded not guilty to all three counts. She could face up to three years in prison if convicted.