PICTURED: Alec Baldwin Trial Evidence — Blood-Stained Clothes, Film Script and the Colt 45 Revolver Used in Deadly 'Rust' Shooting
Blood-stained pieces of evidence from the 'Rust' set came up during the second day of Alec Baldwin's involuntary manslaughter trial on Thursday.
July 11 2024, Published 8:00 p.m. ET
During the second day of Alec Baldwin's involuntary manslaughter trial in New Mexico, crime scene technician Marissa Poppell testified about the evidence she collected on the set of Rust after cinematographer Halyna Hutchins was fatally shot and director Joel Souza was wounded.
Photos of the crime scene from case files obtained exclusively by RadarOnline.com show the weapon and blood-soaked items discovered inside the makeshift wooden church in Santa Fe, where tragedy struck during a scene rehearsal on October 21, 2021.
Baldwin was photographed by officials at the scene of the shooting, still in costume from rehearsal.
Much of the evidence we received after filing a Freedom of Information request with law enforcement is expected to be introduced into the trial.
In court on Thursday, Poppell testified at length about the Colt .45 prop gun Baldwin was holding that fired a live bullet instead of a dummy round, leaving Hutchins bleeding out on the floor. The projectile that tore through her chest then became lodged in Souza's shoulder.
Poppell said that both dummy rounds and live bullets were found in various locations on the set, and that she found it nearly impossible to distinguish between the two simply by looking at them.
Baldwin has insisted he never pulled the trigger of the Colt .45.
The technician agreed when Baldwin's attorney, Alex Spiro, said she was "not certain" when collecting bullets "whether or not they were live or dummies."
"Some rounds you submitted to the FBI to process to figure that out," the defense attorney added, to which Poppell replied, "Correct."
She said one live round was found "in Mr. Baldwin's holster" and another was in a box of ammo "that was being pulled from at the time to load the firearm."
A crime scene technician said one live round was found in the church — in Baldwin's holster.
She was also asked about blood-stained items like Baldwin's costume, clothes the injured crew members were wearing, and scripts from the scene rehearsal — all of which can be seen in the evidence photos. Some particularly chilling images reveal where emergency medical officials had to cut Hutchins' blood-soaked shirt open to tend to her fatal wounds.
However, complicating things for investigators, the crime scene was also splattered with fake prop blood. Poppell told the court that further analysis had to be done by the FBI to determine which items contained actual blood.
A crime scene technician confirmed in court on Thursday that Baldwin's clothing was covered in fake "movie blood."
When Spiro said, "Mr. Baldwin's clothes had red on them and you tested it for blood and it turned out to be movie blood, right?" Poppell replied, "Yes."
It was unclear whether a script affixed with a blue sticky note reading "ALEC" was splattered with real or fake blood, but the document highlighted the eerie parallels between the plot of the western movie and the now infamous on-set shooting.
Scripts collected from the scene reveal the eery similarities between the movie's plot and the on-set shooting.
"When you photographed these, you thought it was important because you thought it reflected what would have happened in the scene," the defense attorney said to Poppell of the scripts.
The film, which was written and directed by Souza, is set in the 1880s and stars Baldwin as outlaw Harland Rust. Its plot follows Rust's 13-year-old grandson, Lucas Hollister, as he is sentenced to be hanged for accidentally killing a rancher, and the pair go on the run together.
When Souza was in the hospital, as RadarOnline.com exclusively reported, he told an officer that when he was struck by the bullet, the crew was rehearsing "a scene in the church where there was going to be a shootout among three characters."
Evidence photos show where emergency medical officials had to cut open Halyna Hutchins' shirt to tend to her wounds.
The script photographed by investigators shows the scene was supposed to feature a confrontation between Rust and his nemesis, U.S. Marshal Wood Helm. In the scene, "Wood rolls over, trying to get up, and clutches a wounded shoulder" while Baldwin's character holds the notorious Colt .45., per the documents.
Rust, who is also apparently wounded in the sequence, tells the marshal of his grandson, "He ain't no killer."
“So, I guess I'm gonna take this out, pull it and go, 'Bang!'" Baldwin reportedly said before the gun unexpectedly went off during the rehearsal.
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The incident took place during a rehearsal in a makeshift wooden church in Santa Fe.
Production was suspended after the horrific incident, and Baldwin maintains that he never actually pulled the trigger of the gun.
He has pleaded not guilty to the involuntary manslaughter charge. The movie's armorer, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, was convicted of involuntary manslaughter during her trial over Hutchins' death in March, and she was sentenced to 18 months behind bars.
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