Additional Coverage:
Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, the armorer for the film “Rust,” is asserting that New Mexico prosecutors concealed evidence vital to her defense in the accidental shooting that implicated actor Alec Baldwin. Gutierrez-Reed, who was recently convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to 18 months in prison, alleges this evidence could prove the firearm discharged without Baldwin’s intervention.
Legal documents made public on Thursday, as per TMZ, detail accusations by Gutierrez-Reed’s lawyer, Jason Bowles, that prosecutors failed to disclose a report outlining unrecognized alterations to the gun’s trigger. These modifications were deemed unlikely to be results of FBI testing and did not match the original manufacturing specifications.
Gutierrez-Reed maintains the firearm discharged by itself, a claim underscored by the discovery of the report during Baldwin’s pretrial hearings. Baldwin has consistently denied pulling the trigger in the incident that resulted in the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on set.
Gutierrez-Reed argues this withheld report not only absolves her of legal responsibility for Hutchins’ death but also indicates prosecutorial misconduct. She believes this “bombshell exculpatory evidence” was crucial to her defense and could have significantly altered the trial’s outcome.
In her quest to overturn her conviction, Gutierrez-Reed highlights this evidence and the alleged prosecutorial failings as key reasons for her appeal. She seeks to be released from prison while her appeals are considered.