A New Mexico judge has upheld the involuntary manslaughter conviction of Hannah Gutierrez Reed, the armorer on the set of the film Rust, for the 2021 fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins. The decision was made on Monday (September 30), nearly three years after the tragic incident. Gutierrez Reed was ordered to remain in custody to serve the remainder of her 18-month sentence.
The shooting occurred on October 21, 2021, when actor Alec Baldwin fired a prop gun loaded with a live round, killing Hutchins and injuring the film’s director. Gutierrez Reed, who was responsible for firearms on the movie set, was convicted of involuntary manslaughter in March 2024. Prosecutors argued that she repeatedly violated safety protocol and was negligent in her duties, allowing six live rounds onto the set. Her defense attorney argued that she was scapegoated for the safety failures of film set management and other crew members.
Gutierrez Reed had requested a new trial or dismissal of her conviction, alleging that prosecutors failed to share evidence that could have cleared her. However, Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer rejected the request, stating that the armorer’s attorneys did not establish that there was a reasonable possibility that the outcome of the trial would have been different had the evidence been available to Gutierrez Reed.
Baldwin was also charged with involuntary manslaughter but had his charges dismissed due to misconduct of police and prosecutors and their withholding of evidence from the defense. Assistant film director David Halls took a plea deal in 2023 for his role in the shooting, pleading no contest to one count of negligent use of a deadly weapon, and was sentenced to six months of unsupervised probation.
Gutierrez Reed also pleaded not guilty to a separate felony charge that she allegedly carried a gun into a bar in Santa Fe, New Mexico, where firearms are prohibited. A proposed plea agreement is awaiting court review.
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