CLEwebinars.com 2025 Courtroom technology and the visual trial: The Rust shooting

Hannah Gutierrez Reed, the armorer of the film “Rust” was found guilty of Involuntary Manslaughter for the 2021 on-set fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins. Alec Baldwin fired the fatal bullet believing that the gun was a cold gun and did not contain live ammunition. At Ms. Reed’s trial the prosecutor relied on visual evidence, film, pictures, and visual enhancements to prove that Ms. Reed’s reckless conduct caused the death of Halyna Hutchins. Jurors crave visual evidence and studies indicate that the human brain quickly processes visual information and that we retain sixty percent of what we see and only ten to twenty percent of what we read and hear. In this presentation, attendees will watch film clips of this trial and learn evidentiary foundations to admit visual evidence and to successfully display this evidence to the jury. The goal of this presentation is for attendees to understand the benefits of using visual evidence and obtain technological skill to seamlessly present this evidence in court.

The goal of this program is for attendees to learn litigation skills while discussing this amazing story.  

Opinions and positions stated by presenters of MoBarCLE programs are those of the presenters and not necessarily those of The Missouri Bar. This program is intended as information for lawyers in Missouri, in conjunction with other research they deem necessary, in the exercise of their independent judgment.