7-3-2024 (SANTA FE) A jury delivered a verdict of involuntary manslaughter on Wednesday (Mar 6) for movie weapons supervisor Hannah Gutierrez-Reed in the tragic shooting incident that resulted in the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of the Western movie “Rust,” where actor Alec Baldwin was involved.
The conviction against Gutierrez-Reed adds a new layer of responsibility in the October 2021 shooting incident, following the plea of no contest by an assistant director last year for negligent handling of a firearm.
Gutierrez-Reed was also charged with tampering with evidence, stemming from allegations that she handed a bag of possible narcotics to another crew member after the shooting to avoid detection. However, she was found not guilty on that count.
As soon as the verdict was announced in court, the judge ordered the 24-year-old armourer to be taken into custody by deputies. Lead attorney Jason Bowles stated that Gutierrez-Reed intends to appeal the conviction, which carries a potential sentence of up to 18 months in prison and a fine of US$5,000.
Alec Baldwin, the lead actor and co-producer of “Rust,” was indicted by a grand jury in January on a charge of involuntary manslaughter. The incident occurred when Baldwin pointed a gun at Hutchins on the movie set near Santa Fe, New Mexico, resulting in the death of the cinematographer and the injury of director Joel Souza.
The trial in Santa Fe was a preliminary hearing before Baldwin’s scheduled trial in July, where he will face a single charge of involuntary manslaughter. Baldwin has pleaded not guilty. No immediate response was received from Baldwin’s spokeswoman or his lawyer regarding Wednesday’s verdict.
During the trial, prosecutors argued that Gutierrez-Reed unknowingly brought live ammunition onto the set of “Rust” at a ranch on the outskirts of Santa Fe, claiming that the rounds remained present for at least 12 days until the fatal shooting. In her closing arguments, prosecutor Kari Morrissey described a series of “constant, never-ending safety failures” on the set of “Rust” and Gutierrez-Reed’s “astonishing lack of diligence” in ensuring gun safety.
“We are back to where we started – seeking justice for Halyna Hutchins,” Morrissey told the jurors before they began deliberating. “Hannah Gutierrez failed to uphold firearms safety, turning a fatal accident into a predictable outcome.”
Prosecutors alleged that the armourer repeatedly ignored or neglected standard gun safety protocols that could have identified the presence of live rounds. Morrissey stated, “Every time an actor had a gun with dummies, it was like playing Russian roulette.”
The defense argued that the problems on the set extended beyond Gutierrez-Reed’s control, including the mishandling of weapons by Baldwin. They cited sanctions and findings by state workplace safety investigators as evidence during the trial.
According to the defense, prosecutors failed to establish the origin of the live rounds and neglected to thoroughly investigate an ammunition supplier based in Albuquerque.
Bowles, the defense attorney, informed the jurors that no one in the cast or crew believed there were live rounds on the set, and Gutierrez-Reed could not have predicted that Baldwin would “go off-script” by pointing the revolver at Hutchins. There were no video recordings of the shooting incident found during the investigation.
“It was not part of the script for Mr. Baldwin to point the weapon,” Bowles stated. “She had no knowledge that Mr. Baldwin would do what he did.”
To emphasize their argument, Bowles played a video outtake in which Baldwin fired a revolver loaded with blanks, even after the director called “cut.”
On the day of the shooting, Bowles claimed that Gutierrez-Reed was isolated in a police car away from others, becoming an easy scapegoat.
“You had a production company with a limited budget and an A-list actor who was essentially running the show,” Bowles said. “In the end, they needed someone to blame.”
Throughout the 10-day trial, numerous witnesses testified, including FBI experts in firearms and crime-scene forensics, as well as a camera dolly operator who witnessed the fatal gunshot and observed Hutchins go pale and lose sensation in her legs before her death.
The prosecution extensively presented photographic evidence that traced the arrival and distribution of live rounds on the set. They argued that Gutierrez-Reed repeatedly missed opportunities to ensure safety and treated basic gun protocols as optional.
The defense questioned the relevance of ammunition photographs, highlighting FBI testimony that live rounds cannot be conclusively distinguished from dummy rounds by visual inspection alone.
During the closing arguments, Bowles emphasized the testimony of Rust armourer Sarah Zachry, who mentioned that she disposed of ammunition from guns used by actors other than Baldwin in a state of panic immediately following the shooting. The defense believed this undermined the validity of any evidence regarding the source of the ammunition.
Prosecutors claimed that six live rounds found on the set shared predominantly identical characteristics and did not match the live rounds seized from the movie’s supplier in Albuquerque. Defense attorneys argued that the cluttered supply office was not searched until a month after the shooting, undermining the significance of the physical evidence.
