The key “Rust” crew member accused of handing Alec Baldwin the gun before cinematographer Halyna Hutchins was shot dead backed the actor’s claim that he never pulled the trigger — but the Santa Fe County Sheriff has insisted “guns don’t just go off.”
Assistant director Dave Halls has always maintained that Baldwin’s “finger was never in the trigger guard” when their cinematographer was killed Oct. 21 on the New Mexico set, his attorney, Lisa Torraco, told ABC News.
“Dave has told me since the very first day I met him that Alec did not pull that trigger,” Torraco insisted in the interview on “Good Morning America” Thursday.
“The entire time, Baldwin had his finger outside the trigger guard, parallel to the barrel. [Halls] told me since day one that he thought it was a misfire,” Torraco said.
“It was a pure accident — freak, awful accident [that] unfortunately killed somebody.”
In a snippet of a tearful ABC interview, set to air in full Thursday night, Baldwin insisted that “the trigger wasn’t pulled. I didn’t pull the trigger.”
“I would never point a gun at anyone and pull the trigger at them, never,” he told ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos, breaking down as he said the death of Hutchins was the worst thing that had ever happened to him.
Torraco admitted it was a shocking development in the movie-set tragedy, saying even she was skeptical until she saw the teaser for Baldwin’s sitdown.
“Until Alec said that, it was just really hard to believe,” she said of her own client’s repeated claim to her.
However, Santa Fe County Sheriff Adam Mendoza, who is part of the investigation, says the actor’s claim doesn’t add up.
“Guns don’t just go off,” Mendoza told Fox News. “So whatever needs to happen to manipulate the firearm, he did that and it was in his hands.”
Experts told the outlet that it is not impossible for an older gun, such as the Colt 45 revolver used on set, to suffer a mechanical failure and go off — but it would be rare.
“In order to make it fire, you have to put your thumb up onto the hammer, cock the hammer all the way back, and then as the hammer is completely cocked back, then you pull the trigger and then the gun fires,” weapons armorer Bryan W. Carpenter told Fox News.
“So that’s very important because that gun had to have two-step process to fire. It had to be cocked and the trigger pulled to fire.”
Film and prop historian Michael Corrie also insisted it would be very unusual for a gun to go off without pulling the trigger.
“Barring an as yet unknown mechanical failure, this weapon did not fire itself,” he told the outlet.
“For the hammer to travel forward at all, the trigger has to be depressed… unless some major mechanical failure takes place.”
“I would never point a gun at anyone and pull the trigger at them, never,” he told ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos, breaking down as he said the death of Hutchins was the worst thing that had ever happened to him.
Investigators have previously detailed in search warrants how Halls “grabbed” the gun from a cart and then yelled “cold gun” to indicate it was safe as he handed it to the low-budget Western’s lead actor.
The gun “was fired by the actor Alec Baldwin,” killing Hutchins and injuring director Joel Souza, the affidavits insisted.
A later affidavit said Halls admitted he “should have checked” all of the rounds but “couldn’t recall” if the key safety protocol was followed that day.
Despite the affidavits based on crew interviews, Torraco previously denied that Halls had handed the weapon to Baldwin, claims that she did not discuss in her latest interview, ABC News said.
She said Halls is “heartbroken” — but not expecting any legal consequences, despite Santa Fe’s district attorney previously warning that “everything is on the table.”
“I will be shocked if criminal charges get filed against Mr. Halls,” Torraco said.
“He had no responsibility, no liability and certainly not at the level of criminal liability,” she said.
Baldwin’s interview is airing as an hour-long special at 8 p.m. Thursday. Stephanopoulos said it was “no question” the most intense interview he has ever done.
“I’ve known Alec for several years, and I’ve never seen him like this,” the TV veteran said on “GMA.”
“He’s crushed, but he’s also very, very candid,” he said of the star.
