SANTA FE, NEW MEXICO - MARCH 06: Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, former armorer for the movie "Rust," listens to closing arguments in her trial at district court on March 6, 2024 in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Gutierrez-Reed, who was working as the armorer on the movie "Rust" when a revolver actor Alec Baldwin was holding fired, killing cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and wounding the film's director Joel Souza, was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter but acquitted on charges of tampering with evidence. She could face up to 18 months in prison. (Photo by Luis Sánchez Saturno - Pool/Getty Images)
‘Rust’ weapons supervisor, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter in the Alec Baldwin movie set shooting.
According to the Associated Press, a jury declared her responsible for the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.
As previously reported, Baldwin fired the weapon that ultimately killed Hutchins during a rehearsal. In January, he pleaded not guilty during his indictment. His trial is set to begin this July.
Gutierrez-Reed faced an additional charge of tampering with evidence but dodged that conviction due to insufficient proof.
The judge ordered deputies to arrest the 26-year-old after the verdict was read. Her lawyer, Jason Bowles, said Gutierrez-Reed will appeal the court’s decisions.
She faces up to 18 months in prison and a $5,000 fine. But Judge Mary Marlowe Somer has not set a sentencing date, per AP.
For context, Alec Baldwin pointed a gun at Hutchins during a rehearsal for the “Rust” movie filmed in New Mexico. The firearm discharged and hit the cinematographer and director, Joel Souza. Souza survived his injuries.
“We end exactly where we began — in the pursuit of justice for Halyna Hutchins,” prosecutor Kari Morrissey stated. “Hannah Gutierrez failed to maintain firearms safety, making a fatal accident willful and foreseeable. Never checked the rounds, to pull them out to shake them. I mean, if she’d have done that this wouldn’t have happened.”
Meanwhile, Gutierrez-Reed’s defense attorney attempted to blame Baldwin solely.
“It was not in the script for Mr. Baldwin to point the weapon. She didn’t know that Mr. Baldwin was going to do what he did,” the defense lawyer said.
At trial, Bowles played a video outtake of Baldwin firing a revolver loaded with blanks in addition to a shot after a director says “cut.”
The defense attorney argued, “You had a production company on a shoestring budget, an A-list actor that was really running the show. At the end, they had somebody they could all blame.”
Baldwin initially claimed he pulled back the hammer, but not the trigger and the gun fired. Analytics proved otherwise.
Prosecutor Morrissey closed her arguments by describing “constant, never-ending safety failures” on the Santa Fe set and Gutierrez-Reed’s “astonishing lack of diligence” with firearm safety.
