Additional Coverage:
The armorer from the film “Rust,” Hannah Gutierrez Reed, has requested that her involuntary manslaughter conviction be overturned. This development follows the collapse of actor Alec Baldwin’s trial over a fatal on-set shooting due to evidence not disclosed by the prosecution.
During an October 2021 rehearsal for the budget-constrained Western film, Baldwin was handling a revolver that discharged a live bullet, resulting in the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and injuring the director. Gutierrez, responsible for the film’s weaponry, reportedly loaded the gun with live ammunition by mistake. This mishap, which remains unexplained, led to her sentencing to 18 months in prison earlier this year.
However, recent revelations in Baldwin’s separate trial in Santa Fe, New Mexico, indicated that law enforcement and prosecutors might have suppressed critical evidence regarding how live ammunition was present on set. Notably, bullets handed to authorities by a former police officer—which matched the fatal bullet—were neither analyzed by the detective in charge nor shared with defense attorneys, leaving significant questions unanswered.
Following the judge’s decision to dismiss Baldwin’s case due to the “intentional and deliberate” withholding of evidence, Gutierrez Reed’s attorneys have pushed for either a retrial or a dismissal of her charges, citing substantial procedural violations by the state. They claim that prosecutor Kari Morrissey not only misled the court but was complicit in concealing evidence, including an interview with a prop weapons supplier and reports from state firearms experts.
Gutierrez Reed’s legal team has emphasized that the credibility of the judicial process has been jeopardized by these actions and are calling for her immediate exoneration.