“Safety Seemed To Be Secondary,” ‘Rust’ Grip Tells Court At Armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed’s Involuntary Manslaught Trial

The oldest comment on article suggests Armorer and crew were doing something "bad" the weekend before!

https://deadline.com/2024/02/rust-armorer-trial-latest-1235838920/comment-page-3/

One of the few members of Rust’s camera department who opted to stay on the movie after disputes about money and safety, Addiego bluntly told Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer, the jury and others in the courtroom that “safety seemed to be secondary” on the set. He was in the room when the 1880s prop gun that star-producer Baldwin was holding fired and killed Hutchins and wounded director Joel Souza.

Earlier, under questioning by special prosecutor Kerri Morrissey, industry vet Addiego made a blunt but polite point of stating that Gutierrez-Reed “wasn’t necessarily as serious or professional as I’m accustomed to with the other armors that I’ve worked with.”

“It seemed inappropriate, out of the ordinary that those firearms weren’t secured,” Addiego added as an example of the relatively inexperienced Gutierrez-Reed’s alleged disorganization on set. “I don’t know that they’re completely under the armorer’s control if they’re not under lock and key.” He noted that firearms often were left on carts as the defendant juggled her double duty as armorer and assistant prop master on the low-budget film.

After the defense said they had no idea how the live rounds got on the Rust set and denied allegations of hard drug use and heavy drinking that were made public by prosecutors against Gutierrez-Reed.

Frequently stopping to explain industry lingo or the process of feature filmmaking to the jury and stopping due to objections from the defense, Addiego was by far the most potent witness the prosecution has had four days into the trial.

Delivering an up-close and professional perspective on what was happening on Rust’s harried set, the dolly grip described being “within feet” of a “negligent discharge” literally at the feet of prop master Sarah Zachery just before a scene was scheduled to be filmed. Before offering testimony on another “unannounced” discharge on Rust, the relatively low-key Addiego swore under oath that he’s “never seen” a prop master unloading weaponry on a film or TV show.