Gunmaker ‘Rust’ Testifies Alec Baldwin Had to Pull Trigger to Fire His Gun

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“No.”

That’s what the man who made the replica of the Colt .45 that Alec Baldwin was holding and killed Rust Cinematographer Halyna Hutchins talks today in 2021 about the possibility of the gun being able to fire without anyone pulling the trigger.

“It will only fire when you cock the hammer, the trigger will engage the firing position,” Alessandro Pietta of Pietta Firearms in Italy testified at Baldwin’s manslaughter trial Thursday in New Mexico.

“If you want to release the hammer, you have to pull the trigger,” Pietta added discreetly. “The trigger is just a mechanism that locks the armor in that position. And if you want to do that, you have to pull the trigger.”

Baldwin, who has pleaded not guilty, faces up to 18 months in prison. He has always maintained that even though he cocked the hammer, he did not pull the trigger and that the gun fired on its own. Although the gun is now somewhat damaged after several rounds of testing over the years, the FBI and independent investigators say there is no way the gun could have fired without the trigger being pulled — exactly what Pietta said today in his brief but potentially crucial testimony before Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer.

Hutchins was fatally shot, and Rust Director Joel Souza was injured on October 21, 2021, after the Colt .45 Baldwin pointed at the cinematographer fired a live round during a rehearsal at Bonanza Creek Ranch near Santa Fe.

Baldwin’s trial, which began July 9, is scheduled to continue through July 19, when the jury will meet in camera to deliberate. Baldwin, who often sat with his arms crossed over his chest, was present in court today. Whether Baldwin will testify is still up in the air, although defendants in cases like this rarely testify in their own defense.

Defense attorney Luke Nikas stood up to press Pietta on the fact that before today, the witness hadn’t actually seen the gun since early 2018, when it was shipped to the United States. Except for a photo on “a Zoom meeting” since the shooting and his handling of it on the stand Thursday, Pietta agreed with the attorney.

The gunsmith’s testimony ended shortly thereafter.

Prior to Pietta’s testimony, today’s court session focused primarily on the role of law enforcement in the aftermath of the incident. Rust filming.

Another portion of Thursday was devoted to a mini-hearing in which Judge Sommer reviewed an interview Baldwin had with police shortly after the shooting and the redactions the defense had decided to seek at the “last minute,” as the judge called it. Much of the interview was devoted to a somewhat sullen Baldwin talking about guns and his knowledge of firearms over his long career.

At one point, special prosecutor Kari Morrissey read Baldwin’s statement to police, “I’m 63 years old with six kids, I can’t rely on luck anymore.” At another point, as Morrissey bluntly claimed Baldwin was lying about not pulling the trigger, the actor suddenly left the courtroom, much to the shock of the 30 Rock actor’s lawyers.

Ultimately, with Judge Sommer clearly irritated by the fact that the jury was forced to wait until the trial itself began, about half of the defense essays, mostly those about Baldwin’s personal life, were allowed in – although the remarks about his wife’s visit to New Mexico were allowed in.

Under questioning from the prosecution and the often aggressive defense, Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Department crime scene technician Marissa Poppell described her role in investigating the tragedy at Bonanza Creek Ranch nearly three years ago, from examining ammunition found in and around the Rust crime scene to considering evidence of the 1880s-era gun that killed Hutchins.

In essentially accusing Poppell of withholding evidence, defense attorney Alex Spiro took a strange turn when he began talking about a “good Samaritan” who had come to the sheriff’s office in recent weeks. The individual claimed to have proof of where the live rounds that killed Hutchins came from.

Special Prosecutor Morrissey quickly revealed that the Good Samaritan in question was a good friend of Thell Reed, the father of Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, a now-incarcerated Rust gunsmith. It was also revealed that the bullets provided by the individual did not match those fired from the gun in Baldwin’s hand that day.

Reed Sr. is a legendary movie killer, best known for his work on Westerns. He was in Judge Sommer’s courtroom nearly every day of his daughter’s trial this spring.

Sentenced April 15 to 18 months in New Mexico state prison after being convicted of involuntary manslaughter March 6 for the live round that landed on the often chaotic field Rust Gutierrez-Reed is expected to be called as a state witness Friday in Baldwin’s trial.

What she says may be another story. In interviews before Baldwin’s trial began, Gutierrez-Reed consistently invoked her Fifth Amendment rights during questioning by prosecutors. Her attorney Jason Bowles said she plans to do the same tomorrow.