Alec Baldwin HAD to have pulled the trigger of the gun that killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, says FBI firearms expert who claims it's nearly impossible that it would go off otherwise

Alec Baldwin's claim that he never pulled the trigger of the gun he used to accidentally shoot dead a cinematographer was challenged today in court by an FBI firearms expert.

Bryce Ziegler, an agent with the FBI firearms unit who examined the gun Baldwin used, said he had to break the gun with a mallet to get it to fire without using the trigger.

Ziegler, appearing for the prosecution, said that couldn't have happened on the set of Rust because the gun was in working order when it came to him.

His analysis contradicts claims by Baldwin that he only pulled back the hammer on the vintage-looking pistol.

The FBI agent gave evidence during the trial of Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, 26, the armorer for Rust.

FBI firearms expert Bryce Ziegler gave evidence during the trial of Rust armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, 26, on Monday, that challenged Alex Baldwin's version of events 

Gutierrez-Reed is accused of involuntary manslaughter and is also facing a charge of tampering with evidence 

Ziegler's assessment challenges Alec Baldwin's claim that he never pulled the trigger of the gun that shot dead cinematographer Halyna Hutchins

She is accused of involuntary manslaughter in the case being held in Santa Fe, New Mexico. The movie was being filmed in nearby La Cienega inOctober 2021 when Baldwin, 65, shot Hutchins, 42 dead.

The bullet went clean through Hutchins, causing her fatal injuries, and hit Rust director Joel Souza in the shoulder. He survived.

Baldwin will face trial at a later date for involuntary manslaughter. Both he and Gutierrez-Reed face a maximum of 18 months in prison if convicted.

The bullet went clean through cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, causing her fatal injuries

Ziegler told the court that he conducted extensive testing on the firearm that Baldwin was using to practice with.

In his lab the only way he could get the gun to fire without pulling the trigger was by hitting it with a mallet and that resulted in the gun being damaged on the inside.

Prosecutor Kari Morrissey said: 'In order for you to make the gun fire without pulling the trigger you had to break it?'

Ziegler said: 'That's what I had to do in my lab.

'It would not fire without pulling the trigger in the fully cocked setting without being broken.'

Morrissey asked if the gun used by Baldwin was in 'proper working order' when it came to the FBI lab where Ziegler works.

Ziegler said that it 'functioned normally' and the only damage was sustained later on during his tests.

Speaking to Chris Cuomo on NewsNation in 2022, Baldwin said that the incident on the set of Rust was similar to 'fanning' a gun, a technique used in Western style films to fire multiple rounds out of a gun.

He said: 'So if you pull the hammer back and you don't lock the hammer, if you pull the hammer back pretty far, in old Western movies, you would see someone fan the hammer of the gun.

'The hammer didn't lock, you pulled it back to an extent where it would fire the bullet without you pulling the trigger, without you locking the hammer.'

Ziegler appeared to contradict this and said that during tests at the FBI lab he put the hammer in the quarter and half cocked positions – not locking it in – and tried to squeeze the trigger to get it to fire.

He said that this test was to see if you could 'squeeze hard enough it's going to cock it so that it releases' but it was not possible and he couldn't fire the weapon.

 Gutierrez-Reed is also facing a charge of tampering with evidence after prosecutors claimed she gave another person a bag of cocaine after a police interview to prevent law enforcement from obtaining it

Baldwin is seen in the parking lot outside the Santa Fe County Sheriff's office following the shooting in October 2021. He was originally charged with involuntary manslaughter but the allegations were dropped in April last year. He was dramatically charged again last month and pleaded not guilty

During the trial, which began last week, lawyers for Gutierrez-Reed have sought to portray Baldwin as being in charge of the filming of Rust and being negligent in his role as a producer.

The jury has heard claims that Baldwin 'ignored basic gun safety rules' by pointing a gun at Hutchins when he didn't intend to shoot her.

Baldwin didn't need to even use a gun for the scene he was shooting and could have used a stick instead, it was claimed.

Katherine 'Row' Walters, the movie's unit production manager who oversaw its day-to-day running, testified that Baldwin 'wasn't paying attention' during safety training on the set of the film.

She also revealed that the entire camera crew of six people walked off the set of Rust the day before Baldwin shot Hutchins.

Gutierrez-Reed is also facing a charge of tampering with evidence after prosecutors claimed she gave another person a bag of cocaine after a police interview to prevent law enforcement from obtaining it.

Baldwin was originally charged with involuntary manslaughter but the allegations were dropped in April last year.

He was dramatically charged again last month and pleaded not guilty, as has Gutierrez-Reed.

In 2022 Baldwin settled a civil lawsuit filed against him by Matthew Hutchins, the widow of Hutchins, and the father of their 11-year-old son.

Under the terms Rust continued production at a new location in Montana and Hutchins, who has called his wife's death a 'terrible accident', is an executive producer.

The jury was shown shocking images of cinematographer's Halyna Hutchins' the blood-stained shirt on Friday

The live rounds of ammunition that were in the gun that killed Hutchins were shown in court today 

The bullet that killed the cinematographer and struck the film director is seen above

Dave Halls, the film's first assistant director and safety coordinator, is among the witnesses who will give evidence over the two week trial, including other crew members.

Halls has already been sentenced to six months of probation last year after admitting negligent use of a deadly weapon.

A separate civil lawsuit against Baldwin for cutting corners on safety filed by members of the Rust production crew is ongoing.

Speaking to ABC News in December 2021 Baldwin said: 'I didn't pull the trigger. I would never point a gun at anyone and pull the trigger at them. Never'.

But in August 2022 an FBI crime lab report was made public and echoed the comments by Ziegler.

The report said that the gun 'could not be made to fire without a pull of the trigger' while the hammer was cocked at the quarter and half positions.

The ballistic analysis also found that the weapon 'could not be made to fire without a pull of the trigger while the working internal components were intact and functional'.