Entertainment
FBI analyst describes damage to Alec Baldwin's 'Rust' gun in armorer criminal trial
New Mexico prosecutors attempting to prove that Alec Baldwin was criminally negligent in the fatal shooting of the “Rust” movie cinematographer must grapple with a complicating piece of evidence: a damaged gun.
Baldwin has long maintained that he did not pull the trigger of his prop gun — a Colt .45 revolver — on Oct. 21, 2021, while rehearsing a scene on the movie set outside Santa Fe, N.M. Cinematographer Halyna Hutchins was standing a few feet away when Baldwin’s gun discharged, firing a lead bullet that fatally struck her in the chest. The shot also injured film’s director, Joel Souza, who recovered from his wound.
A month after the accident, Baldwin told ABC News anchor George Stephanopoulos: “I didn’t pull the trigger. … I would never point a gun at anyone and pull the trigger at them.”
Persistent questions about the gun’s condition at the time of the shooting have proved to be thorny for prosecutors. Baldwin’s defense team has suggested the actor’s prop gun was faulty and may have malfunctioned, leading to its discharge — a theory that is expected to be a centerpiece of the actor’s defense. His lawyers have pointed to the weapon’s failure during testing to support Baldwin’s recollection of his role in the tragic shooting.
Last month, a Santa Fe County grand jury indicted Baldwin on involuntary manslaughter charges. If convicted, the 65-year-old actor could serve up to 18 months in prison. On Monday, New Mexico First Judicial District Court Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer scheduled Baldwin’s trial to begin with jury selection on July 9.
However, two ballistics experts have cast doubt on Baldwin’s claims, including an FBI forensic examiner who testified Monday in the criminal trial of Hannah Gutierrez, the “Rust” armorer who loaded the actor’s weapon that day. Gutierrez is facing involuntary manslaughter and evidence tampering charges in connection with the “Rust” shooting. This week’s testimony, in a Santa Fe County courtroom, comes as New Mexico special prosecutors look to fortify their felony cases against Gutierrez and Baldwin.
Baldwin has pleaded not guilty to the charges. His trial is expected to last eight days.
On Monday, the third day of Gutierrez’s trial, FBI forensic examiner Bryce Ziegler took the stand.
Ziegler testified that he was responsible for damaging the gun during testing at the FBI Laboratory in Quantico, Va., nearly two years ago.
The FBI analyst said Monday that he performed a rigorous set of tests, including striking Baldwin’s prop gun several times with a “rawhide mallet.”
Ziegler said he used the rawhide mallet to strike the gun, while the hammer was pulled back, from several directions. The tests were intended to determine whether bumping or jostling the weapon would result in a discharge. He said he was trying to simulate scenarios for the gun to go off — without the handler pulling the trigger.
During that test, he broke several components of the gun. The fractured parts included the tip of the trigger, the sear and the hammer.
Hannah Gutierrez, left, with her attorney Jason Bowles, leaves New Mexico’s First District Court, last week after jury selection in her trial on involuntary manslaughter charges.
(Eddie Moore / Albuquerque Journal)
Ziegler said he was only able to get the gun to fire during two of the tests, including at the fully cocked hammer position. “Some of the internal components of the firearm actually broke to allow that hammer to fall and fire the primed cartridge case,” Ziegler said.
Baldwin’s attorneys, through a spokesperson, declined to comment on the testimony.
Ziegler testified that the gun damage occurred during his testing at the FBI Lab.
“It was functioning normally when I received it,” Ziegler testified Monday. “As a result of the testing, it was damaged.”
Ziegler was one of three FBI experts who testified during Gutierrez’s trial on Monday. The proceedings were broadcast by Court TV.
The “Rust” weapons and ammunition provider, Seth Kenney, testified during a deposition last year that the gun — an Italian-made pistol designed to look like a vintage 1873 single-action revolver — was fully functional when he sent it to the production. Kenney has said that he purchased the gun for “Rust.”
But, for the prosecutors, the fractured gun parts have raised nettlesome questions about the integrity of the firearm. Special prosecutors separately hired an Arizona gun expert to review the broken pieces, among other evidence, and determine whether the gun was faulty during the “Rust” production.
That expert, Lucien C. Haag, studied the gun and rebuilt it with new parts. “The trigger had to be pulled or depressed sufficiently to release the fully cocked or retracted hammer of the evidence revolver,” Haag wrote in his August 2023 report.
Baldwin maintains that it wasn’t his job to inspect the revolver to make sure the bullets inside were inert “dummy” rounds. That position was affirmed by SAG-AFTRA, the performers union that includes Baldwin. When Baldwin was handed the gun, he was told that it was “cold,” meaning it had no ammunition.
However, the gun contained five so-called dummy rounds and one live bullet.
“Mr. Baldwin had no reason to believe there was a live bullet in the gun — or anywhere on the movie set,” his attorney Nikas said previously. “He relied on the professionals with whom he worked, who assured him the gun did not have live rounds. We will fight these charges, and we will win.”
Gutierrez, the armorer, told sheriff’s investigators that she loaded the gun but thought all of the bullets inside were dummies. Special prosecutor Jason J. Lewis, in his opening statement, last week said the trial would feature “Rust” crew members who would testify that Gutierrez was “sloppy” and “unprofessional.”
Gutierrez’s attorney, Jason Bowles, disputed the characterization, saying the young armorer was being made “a scapegoat” by prosecutors and film producers looking to find blame for Hutchins’ tragic death. The film set had other issues, including a walk-off by camera crew members.
“What you are seeing in this courtroom today, is trying to blame it all on Hannah, the 24-year-old,” Bowles said during his opening statement on Thursday. “Why? Because she’s an easy target. She was the least powerful person on that set.”
Gutierrez has pleaded not guilty. Her trial is expected to last through March 6.
The sixth outing in the director’s chair for filmmaker Kirk Jones, I Swear dramatizes the real-life story of touretter John Davidson (played by Robert Aramayo). Tourette’s Syndrome, for those unfamiliar with the condition, is a nervous system disorder that causes various tics, the most prolific being erratic and explicit language. However, as I Swear expertly showcases, the syndrome is far more than ill-timed outbursts of curse words. Davidson’s story is one of societal frustration, finding your people (both with and without the condition), and using your voice to help others rise. The subject and subject matter are handled with absolute care and understanding under Kirk’s measured vision and Robert Aramayo’s BAFTA-winning performance.
The film kicks off with the greatest exclamation to democracy ever uttered (*%#! the Queen!), as a nervous John Davidson prepares himself before entering an awards ceremony hosted by Britain’s royal family. Right away, the film tells us what it is: a triumph over adversity that blends humor and human drama with education. It’s an important setup, as the film flashes back to Davidson’s 1980s youth, where we see his time as a star soccer recruit flatline as his condition takes hold. Davidson’s life spirals from there. Some aspects, like school bullying and accidental run-ins with authority figures, are expected but important to empathizing with young Davidson’s (young version, played with heart by Scott Ellis Watson) new everyday life. The more tragic, a complete meltdown of his family system, is unsettling if quick. His father (Steven Cree) is never given enough screen time to explore his alcohol coping tendencies. However, his mother Heather’s descent into easy fixes and blaming is crushing and convincing. Harry Potter series actress Shirley Henderson (Moaning Myrtle) gives a layered performance as Heather. Someone who loves her son, but also feels cursed by him as the entire family exits the picture. It’s bitter, she’s tired, and fills each conversation with ‘only medication and your mother can save you’ energy.
From there, the viewer and Davidson find refuge in a host of characters. Maxine Peake plays Dottie, the mother of a childhood friend and a retired mental health nurse. Screen vet Peter Mullan plays maintenance man Tommy Trotter. Together, they help Davidson build a life and an understanding of himself that carries the film forward into its second half. After that, the film is primarily a 3-actor show as director Kirk fills the screen with these tour-de-force performances. Peake and Mullan are great vessels to get the film’s main message across: patience, love, and a shared responsibility between the diagnosed and those who understand their struggle can help change the path for people quickly left behind by a normative world. Together, they are the soul of the movie, with the filmmakers clearly hoping the audience will follow their lead after they exit the theater (in my case, the beautiful Oriental Theater for the Milwaukee Film Festival). Both performances are perfectly warm and reflective and shouldn’t be left out in discussions of I Swear.
I say this because the movie is anchored by The Rings of Power actor Robert Aramayo, who leaves Elrond’s elf ears behind to bring an acute naturalism to his performance of main character John Davidson. Aramayo’s physicality and timing of the fitful Tourettes Syndrome never feel out of place or overplayed. In fact, the movie as a whole does an amazing job of never veering into sentimentality. While many moviegoers left with tissues dabbing their eyes, the filmmaking never felt like it was forcing that reaction out of audiences. It straddles the line between feel-good and reality with every story beat and lands squarely on the side of letting the real inform our feelings. Anyone with an ounce of empathy will grasp the film’s message and hopefully take it with them into life.
I Swear continues at the Milwaukee Film Festival on Tuesday, April 21st, and releases nationwide April 24th, 2026, courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics.
Several private equity firms and Hollywood power players, including United Talent Agency and longtime agent Patrick Whitesell, have expressed interest in buying parts of Casey Wasserman’s music and sports management firm after it abruptly went up for sale.
Wasserman became ensnared in controversy earlier this year after his salacious decades-old emails to Ghislaine Maxwell, an accomplice of child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, were released as part of the U.S. Justice Department’s trove of Epstein files.
The agency auction is in the early stages, according to three people close to the process but not authorized to comment.
Earlier this week, several interested parties submitted proposals to meet a preliminary deadline in the auction, two of the sources said.
The company, which changed its name to the Team last month, is expected to be valued at around $3 billion.
Providence Equity Partners holds the majority stake. The private equity firm has discussed selling the entire company or carving off Wasserman’s minority interest. Providence also has considered selling the bulk of the firm and staying on as a minority investor, one of the sources said. Another scenario could involve separating, then selling the individual business units that make up the Team.
Wasserman and Providence’s company boasts an enviable roster of music artists, including Kendrick Lamar, Coldplay and Ed Sheeran. Its sports marketing practice is viewed as particularly lucrative and has potential to grow in value as big dollars flow into sports that draw large crowds.
Wasserman, who declined to comment, has a veto right over any sale of the company that he has spent a quarter of a century building.
UTA, which also declined to comment, is among the most aggressive suitors, the sources said. The Team’s sports marketing and music representation divisions would dramatically boost the Beverly Hills agency’s profile and client roster.
Whitesell, former executive chairman of Endeavor, separately has been motivated to make investments in sports, media and entertainment since last year when he left the talent agency that he and Ari Emanuel built. Whitesell launched a new firm with seed money from private equity firm Silver Lake, and last spring he started WIN Sports Group to represent professional football players.
Whitesell wasn’t immediately available for comment.
European investment firm Permira also has expressed interest, according to a knowledgeable source. Permira declined to comment.
The New York Times first reported that Permira, UTA and Whitesell had expressed interest.
The sales process is expected to stretch into summer, the knowledgeable people said. The auction could become complicated particularly if Providence decides to unwind the business.
For example, UTA could not buy the entire company because of the Brillstein television unit. The agency is bound by an agreement with the Writers Guild of America that prevents it from owning television production.
Investment bank Moelis & Company is managing the sale. A representative of the firm declined comment.
Wasserman also is the chairman of LA28, the nonprofit group that will be staging the Summer Olympics in Los Angeles in two years.
Following revelations of Wasserman’s 2003 emails with Maxwell, several musicians and athletes — led by pop artist Chappell Roan and soccer star Abby Wambach — said that, to stay true to their values, they would leave the agency then known as Wasserman.
Wasserman apologized to his staff for “past personal mistakes” and said he would sell the agency.
He had limited dealings with Epstein, flying on the financier’s jet along with former President Clinton for a September 2002 humanitarian trip through Africa.
Wasserman, a prolific Clinton fundraiser whose legendary grandfather, Hollywood titan Lew Wasserman, helped the Democrat win the 1992 presidential election, was joined on Epstein’s jet by his then-wife, Laura, actor Kevin Spacey, Epstein, Maxwell — who was convicted of sexual abuse in 2021 — and others, including security agents.
The LA28 board’s executive committee unanimously voted to keep Wasserman as chairman, citing his “strong leadership” of the Games.
Pizza Movie (2026) Director: Nick Kocher and Brian McElhaney, Star: Gaten Matarazzo and Sean Giambrone
Somehow, I got through an hour of this movie. I was seconds away from turning off in the first fifteen minutes because of the juvenile humor. Pizza Movie is too silly, repetitive, and the characters are annoying. Stranger Things Gaten Matarazzo and Sean Giambrone star as college friends, Jack and Montgomery. College angles are rarely seen in films right now, and that’s the one saving grace of the film. Similar to high school, people are also trying to fit in. The story and visuals were too corny. You can only watch someone’s head exploding for so long without letting yours.
The Super Mario Galaxy Movie (2026) Director: Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic, Stars: Chris Pratt, Charlie Day, Anya Taylor-Joy
I never saw the first Super Mario Brothers Movie when it was out, but I heard it got positive reviews. My brother always loved playing Super Mario video games as a kid, and I’d watch him. I tagged along with my friends to see Super Mario Galaxy Movie, and it’s a cute and fun film. I like it when movies explore the video game world. The animation creates unique worlds and characters. The characters are split into their own storylines, and for me, I felt like it worked. It adds more action, especially for kids who are seeing the films.
Emily in Paris Season 5 (2025) Creator: Darren Star, Stars: Lily Collins and Ashley Park
After a bright spot in season 4, I thought season 5 of Emily in Paris would continue its growth in the story and its protagonist, but no, it’s all drained out in the usual Emily (Lily Collins) mishaps. Ashley Park (Mindy) has become too good for this show. Emily and Mindy waste several opportunities because of their love lives. The whole relationship angle is ruining it. I don’t understand why Alfie (Lucien Laviscount) is still in the show. I thought writers learned their lesson, but by the last episode, they’re continuing to bring the past into an apparent season 6.
Sarah’s Oil (2025) Director: Cyrus Nowrasteh, Stars: Naya Desir-Johnson and Zachary Levi
There’s always history lurking right beneath our noses. Sarah’s Oil (2025) tells the true story of Sarah Rector, an Oklahoma-born African American girl who became the first black female millionaire in the U.S. Naya Desir-Johnson is fierce and driven as Sarah. Zachary Levi is also along for the ride as Bert, a man who helps Sarah. Kate (Bridget Regan) was another favorite character as an intelligent woman. Cyrus Nowrasteh was drawn to the subject for its story and its themes. Nowrasteh’s direction is compelling as he unearths a hidden story from history. The film is streaming on Amazon Prime.
Jack Goes Boating (2014) Director and Star: Phillip Seymour Hoffman and Amy Ryan
Jack Goes Boating (2014) didn’t quite work for me, largely because of its slow pace and uneven storytelling. The film stars the late Seymour Hoffman as Jack, who also directed the film. This was Hoffman’s first and only time in the directing chair. Amy Ryan also stars in the film, giving a solid performance. This was also based on a play that Hoffman starred in. Jack wants to participate in a swim championship. That’s hardly what the film is about, tracking other characters’ stories. While the film aims for quiet intimacy, it ultimately drags, making it an underwhelming viewing experience.
You Kill Me (2016), Director: John Dahl, Stars: Ben Kingsley, Tea Leoni, Luke Wilson
Meet You Kill Me (2016), yet another film that I found in the museum of underrated gems. The concept revolves around Frank (Ben Kingsley), a hitman, who is sent to an A.A. meeting to get his mind focused again. A different story happens, where Frank falls in love with Laurel (Tea Leoni). Leoni is one of my favorite actresses. It also stars the funny Luke Wilson. I liked the trio’s dynamics. You Kill Me is a mental health movie. It’s okay to make changes if you’re not happy. I recommended that you keep an eye out for this movie.
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