Rust" assistant director Dave Halls was sentenced Friday after pleading no contest to negligent/unsafe handling of a firearm that led to the on-set October 2021 fatal shooting of the film's cinematographer, Halyna Hutchins.
Halls entered a plea of no contest to the misdemeanor charge of negligent use of a deadly weapon. Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer accepted the plea. The prosecution requested a suspended sentence, which is a conviction.
Halls' attorney Lisa Torraco argued his sentence should be deferred. Torraco explained that Halls did not have control over how individual people handled safety on the set.
"In his mind, he was checking for dummy rounds or blanks," she explained. "He, like many others, is extremely traumatized." Halls is "rattled" with feelings of guilt, she added.
Torraco also emphasized that Halls came in early to the court and pleaded no contest so that everyone can move on and begin processing what happened.
However, Sommer was not convinced and gave him a suspended sentence. The assistant director will not serve jail time and instead was given six months of unsupervised probation.
Halls' probation includes testifying truthfully at any trials or hearings, a $500 fine, participation in a firearms safety course with proof of completion within 60 days of his plea, no alcohol, 24 hours of community service and no contact with any potential witnesses or co-defendants.
Halls and the district attorney reached the plea agreement on Jan. 20.
Halls was one of three people to be charged in connection to Hutchins' death.
Alec Baldwin and armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed were both charged with involuntary manslaughter.
Halls allegedly handed Baldwin a .45 revolver, telling him that it was "cold," or safe. Prior to that, Gutierrez-Reed spun the cylinder to show Halls what was in the gun, her lawyer previously said.
Baldwin has maintained that he did not pull the trigger of the gun — once during a primetime interview shortly following the deadly shooting and again on a podcast episode. The actor originally said he had pulled the hammer of the gun back as far as he could and released it, but did not pull the trigger.
Halls' attorney previously claimed the assistant director did not hand off the gun to Baldwin, despite search warrants confirming he had told police he did.
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