Bree-Anna Burick Sep 27, 2024 4 min read

Judge Considering Dismissing Charges Against Armorer on Set of "Rust"

Involuntary manslaughter case for the 2021 fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins during filming of the Western movie "Rust," Friday, July 12, 2024, at Santa Fe County District Court in Santa Fe, N.M. (Pool Video via AP)

A judge in New Mexico said on Thursday that she will consider a motion to dismiss the case levied against "Rust" armorer Hannah Gutierrez Reed. Reed was convicted of involuntary manslaughter in the 2021 death of the film's cinematographer, Halyna Hutchins.

Here are the details of the motion as well as a look back at this unusual court case.

Details of the Thursday Hearing

A hearing was held on Thursday in New Mexico to review a motion filed in July from the legal team of Gutierrez Reed. The attorneys argued for either a new trial or an entire dismissal of the case, citing several allegations of ongoing discovery violations by state prosecutors and what they referred to as “egregious prosecutorial misconduct."

The lawyers for the defendant also requested that the court order her release from prison. Additionally, Gutierrez Reed's attorneys requested the removal of Kari Morrissey as the case’s special prosecutor for the misconduct that was discovered as well as the violations of the case.

Prosecutors responded to the request from the defense by asking the court to deny the immediate release of Gutierrez Reed, saying that allowing her to leave jail would be premature. The judge responded to the requests by saying that she would consider them and issue a ruling on both the release from prison and the motion to dismiss by next week.

Credit: Adobe Stock

Thursday's hearing comes nearly three years after the tragedy that happened on the set of the western film "Rust."

The 42-year-old Hutchins was shot when a live round of ammunition was fired from a prop gun held by actor and film's co-producer Alec Baldwin. The event happened on October 21, 2021. Joel Souza, the film's director, was also injured when the gun went off inadvertently on the set at Bonanza Creek Ranch.

The accidental shooting was the first of its kind since actor Brandon Lee died on the set of "The Crow" in 1993. Baldwin and other members of the crew faced intense scrutiny regarding how live rounds of ammunition are handled on movie sets. Baldwin was also questioned on if he violated firearm safety regulations.

Fallout of On-Set Shooting

As the official armorer for the film, Gutierrez Reed was placed in charge of the firearms. She was convicted in March on charges of involuntary manslaughter and was subsequently sentenced to 18 months in prison for her culpability in Hutchins' death.

During the trial phase, prosecutors alleged that Gutierrez Reed violated numerous safety protocols while being negligent in performing her assigned duties. These violations included allowing six rounds of live ammunition on the set.

Conversely, her defense team argued that she was taking the blame for the overall safety failures by the film set management and other members of the crew.

Credit: Adobe Stock

Baldwin also faced charges of involuntary manslaughter, pleading not guilty. Prosecutors argued that Baldwin violated what they called the “cardinal rules of firearm safety” when he pointed the prop gun directly at Hutchins and pulled the trigger.

However, his defense said it was Gutierrez Reed and the first assistant director to blame for allowing a real bullet to be put into the prop gun that Baldwin was using.

Baldwin's charges were thrown just a few days after his trial started. Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer ruled that prosecutors were remiss in properly turning over their collected evidence to the defense team. Judge Sommer said that the withholding of evidence was a deliberate and intentional act by the prosecutors.

The charges against Baldwin cannot be brought again because the judge dismissed the case with prejudice.

Baldwin’s legal team successfully argued that the state investigators did not formally share with the defense lawyers that a man had provided investigators with a box of ammunition that was allegedly connected to the case against the defendant. This revelation led to the undoing of the case.

In addition to the charges against Gutierrez Reed and Baldwin, assistant film director David Halls was charged for negligent use of a deadly weapon. He pleaded no contest and took a plea deal, resulting in a sentencing of six months of unsupervised probation.

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