'Rust' assistant director sentenced for deadly shooting

Dave Halls, the security coordinator and assistant director of the film Rust was sentenced Friday for negligent use of the firearm that killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins during filming.

Halls is the first person sentenced in the Hutchins death case to enter into a plea agreement in which he agreed to testify truthfully at any trial or hearing and plead no contest to his misdemeanor charge.

The assistant director will not go to prison, but must comply with six months of unsupervised probation, pay a $500 fine in addition to completing a firearms safety course within 60 days, complete 24 hours of community service and have no contact with potential witnesses or fellow defendants.

It should be recalled that in addition to Halls, two other people were charged in the case of Hutchins' death. Hollywood actor and producer Alec Baldwin and film armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed were charged with involuntary manslaughter.

According to Halls' attorney, Gutierrez-Reed was the one who first held the gun and spun the cylinder to show Halls what was inside, then the assistant manager handed it to Baldwin and told him it was safe.

The actor was the one holding the revolver when it went off and killed the cinematographer. However, Baldwin claimed that he is innocent and that he "never pulled the trigger" and that the gun had a defect that caused it to fire on its own. The artist has also held the gunmaker directly responsible as she was the one who should have ensured the safety of the weapon.

The preliminary hearing for both Baldwin and Gutierrez-Reed is scheduled to begin on May 3. If convicted, both could face a maximum sentence of 18 months in jail and fines.