Judge agrees on subpoena for assistant director of Rust

Rust assistant director David Halls – who handed Alec Baldwin the gun that killed Halyna Hutchins – is subpoenaed for interview after he declined two previous requests to talk

• District Judge Bryan Biedscheid granted a request by the Occupational Health and Safety Bureau to  issue a subpoena to ‘Rust’ assistant director Dave Halls
• Halls reportedly grabbed the gun and yelled ‘cold gun’ to indicate it was safe to use, according to search warrant reports
• Although the affidavit said the gun ‘was fired’ by Baldwin, the actor has since said it was a misfire
• Cinematographer Halyna Hutchins was killed and director Joel Souza was wounded in the October 21 incident at the Bonanza Creek Ranch near Santa Fe
• Safety officials had tried to interview Halls twice, but he declined citing concerns that the criminal investigation had not been completed
• In October, a former colleague of Hall claimed that he never addressed weapon safety protocols in production while working with him on a production in 2019
• Halls has said he did not know the prop gun that killed Hutchins was loaded

The ‘Rust’ assistant director who handed Alec Baldwin the prop gun that killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins must be interviewed by state workplace safety regulators, a judge decided.

District Judge Bryan Biedscheid granted a request by the Occupational Health and Safety Bureau of the state Environment Department to issue a subpoena to Dave Halls. 

Safety officials had tried to interview Halls twice, but he declined through his lawyer, citing concerns that the criminal investigation had not been completed.

Halls reportedly grabbed the gun and yelled ‘cold gun’ to note it was safe to use, according to search warrant reports. Although the affidavit said the gun ‘was fired’ by Baldwin, the actor has since said it was a misfire.  

Cinematographer Halyna Hutchins was killed and director Joel Souza was wounded in the October 21 incident at the Bonanza Creek Ranch near Santa Fe. 

After the incident, Hall’s former colleague, pyrotechnician Maggie Goll claimed that Halls never addressed weapon safety protocols in production meetings or when a firearm was to be used while working with him on a Hulu production in 2019.

Halls has said he did not know the prop gun that killed Hutchins was loaded.  

Dave Halls, the production assistant for Rust, must be interviewed by state workplace safety regulators, a judge decided. Safety officials had tried to interview Halls twice, but he declined through his lawyer, citing concerns that the criminal investigation had not been completed

 Cinematographer Halyna Hutchins (center) was killed and director Joel Souza was wounded in the October 21 incident at the Bonanza Creek Ranch near Santa Fe

According to court documents, Halls was the one who had handed Alec Baldwin the loaded gun that accidentally killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins

Safety officials have tried twice since November 2 to interview Halls but he declined both times through his lawyer and said he would not agree to an interview until a criminal investigation into the shooting was complete, according to an affidavit in the subpoena request.

The interview is needed because Halls had responsibilities for set safety, knew who was present during the shooting and had handled the gun, the application said.

Rebecca Roose, deputy cabinet secretary of the Environment Department, told the Santa Fe New Mexican that the department proposed a Tuesday interview but the judge could set another date or Halls’ lawyer, Lisa Torracco, could fight the subpoena.

KOB-TV reported that Torracco told the station Halls will cooperate with state investigators.

Baldwin has said he did not know the gun contained a live round and that investigators must find out who put it in the weapon. 

Complaints against Dave Halls were made by prop maker and pyrotechnician Maggie Goll after working on him on a previous production with him on Hulu in 2019 called Into the Dark.

In Goll’s statement to CNN in October, she claimed that Halls never addressed weapon safety protocols in production meetings or when a firearm was to be used on the set. 

Baldwin is shown after being told that Halyna had died in the hospital. He was outside the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office and had been interviewed about what happened

In October, Hall’s former colleague, pyrotechnician Maggie Goll claimed that Halls never addressed weapon safety protocols in production meetings or when a firearm was to be used while working with him on Hulu’s Into the Dark in 2019

Goll also said that she was told to ‘watch out’ for him by another crew member as Halls apparently tended to get touchy with them. 

In reference to her experience on Into the Dark, Goll said she had worked with Halls between February to May of 2019 where he had neglected to hold production meetings to follow standard weapon safety protocols.

Those stipulate that any weapon being used on a set – real or fake – must be ‘introduced’ to the cast and the crew so that they are aware of its presence, and can follow other safety protocols. 

‘The only reason the crew was made aware of a weapon’s presence was because the assistant prop master demanded Dave acknowledge and announce the situation each day,’ Goll said in the statement. 

She also added that the prop master would reprimand Halls for not acknowledging the protocol.

According to her statement, the prop master would  ‘announce each day when a gun would be required on camera, the disposition of that weapon — whether it was a rubber/plastic replica, a non-firing option, or a ‘cold’ functional, but unloaded option, allowing anyone to inspect said weapon prior to bringing it to set and presenting it to the talent.’

‘The Prop Master frequently admonished Dave for dismissing the talent without returning props, weapon included, or failing to make safety announcements.’ 

Meanwhile, a photograph emerged on Friday of Alec Baldwin on the set of Rust, immediately after shooting Halyna Hutchins dead.

The picture was shown on Good Morning America as the special effects coordinator from the film and another of the actors told of the harrowing moments Halyna was shot, and when they learned that she’d died by reading it in the press. 

Until now, the first pictures of Baldwin after the shooting were taken in the parking lot of the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Department. 

He was buckled over with grief, having just learned that she’d died, and after being grilled by investigators about how he accidentally shot her. 

The new photograph was taken from behind and does not show his face. By his own recollections of the day, he didn’t yet know that it was a live round that had struck Halyna, much less killed her, and was confused as to what happened. 

‘She goes down, I thought to myself, “Did she faint?” The notion that there was a live round in that gun did not dawn on me ’till probably 45 minutes to an hour later,’ Baldwin said in an interview with ABC News last week. 

He said he was in the room with her for only around 60 seconds after the shot went off and was then ushered out.  

Thomas Gandy, the special effects coordinator, told Good Morning America on Friday that he was standing behind her when she fell to the ground and that she ‘immediately’ started bleeding ‘profusely’.   

Alec Baldwin is shown on the set of Rust in the immediate aftermath of the shooting that killed Halyna Hutchins. He is on the phone. It’s unclear who he is sitting next to but the man to his right resembles assistant director Dave Halls, who handed him the gun

Baldwin, 63, insists it was a misfire and that he did not pull the trigger. Gandy did not speak to that in his interview with Good Morning America on Friday morning. He however told of the ‘bedlam’ that came after everyone realized she had been struck. 

‘Immediately, you can hear the bedlam going off inside this building. People were scrambling, running. No one even thought that it might have been a real bullet.

‘Halyna had her back to me directly, she was wearing, I’ll never forget, a sort of silvery, shiny coat. There was a hole in it and immediately, bleeding. Bleeding profusely. 

‘Right then, like I said, that’s when it got real and still not even knowing Joel poor guy is writhing. We don’t even know he’s been shot through the chest at that point,’ he said. 

He was referring to Joel Souza, the director who was shot in the shoulder but recovered. Halyna died in the hospital afterwards. 

His description of what happened is far more graphic than Baldwin’s, who said he first thought Halyna might have had a ‘heart attack’ or ‘fainted’ when she fell to the ground. 

Special effects coordinator Thomas Gandy told GMA that Halyna started bleeding ‘immediately and profusely’ when she wa shot and that the bullet ‘left a hole in her coat’

Baldwin is shown sitting on the set next to a fire and a long rifle in the days before he accidentally shot Hutchins

Halyna Hutchins is shown on the set of Rust in the days before she was killed. She was described by cast and crew as being at the ‘heart’ of the production

The actor and his wife Hilaria – who has argued with reporters and photographers for confronting them since the shooting – were seen last week in New York City to attend their first public event since the tragedy. 

Baldwin, who has cooperated with police and who says he does not think he will be criminally charged, posted an open letter written by several of the crew on Instagram on Thursday to squash descriptions of the set as ‘chaotic’ or ‘exploitative.’ 

Gandy. the special effects coordinator, is among those who signed the letter. 

It says: ‘This letter is written on behalf of the cast and crew of the film production, Rust. It has not been sanctioned or influenced in any way by the producers.

‘We, the undersigned, believe the public narrative surrounding our workplace tragedy to be inadequate and wish to express a more accurate account of our experience.

Baldwin was back on stage on Thursday night at the RFK Ripple of Hope Gala, where he was the host. He didn’t mention the tragedy but said he was glad to be out of the house 

Baldwin and wife Hilaria are shown leaving their Manhattan apartment after Hilaria took to Instagram to complain about media attention

‘We are hurting for the loss of our friend and colleague Halyna Hutchins. We are hurting for our friends that have been targeted by the public as they themselves grieve. 

‘Unfortunately, in the film industry, it is common to work on unprofessional or hectic productions.

‘Rust was not one of them. Rust was professional. The descriptions of Rust as a chaotic, dangerous and exploitative workplace are false and distract from what matters the most: the memory of Halyna Hutchins.’ 

Baldwin was hosting a human rights event last night. 

He joked on the podium about wanting to get out of his home where he lives with Hilaria and their six children, telling the crowd: ‘I would do anything to get out of the house for 30 minutes.’ 

Baldwin posted this open letter on his Instagram page which was written by dozens of Rust cast and crewmembers where they said the set was safe and not exploitative 

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