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A week before Hannah Gutierrez-Reed is set to go to trial for the fatal 2021 shooting of Rust cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, the former armorer has failed in her latest effort to have her case dismissed.
“I find that the communications are not materially prejudicial to the defendant,” New Mexico Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer swatted away the defense’s motion that Gutierrez-Reed’s case has been polluted due to the sharing of a detailed report full of private correspondence by the armorer with a state witness. ““I’m denying the motion.”
Gutierrez-Reed’s trial is set to start on February 21 in Santa Fe.
Though Rust star/producer Alec Baldwin was re-charged with manslaughter claims by a New Mexico grand jury on January 19, a year to the day he was originally charged over Hutchins’ death, no trial date has yet to be scheduled in his case. Baldwin entered a not guilty plea on January 31.
Having plead not guilty to involuntary manslaughter and tampering with evidence charges, Gutierrez-Reed faces up to three years behind bars if convicted by a Land of Enchantment jury.
Hutchins was killed when a 1880s prop gun held by Baldwin shot her at point blank range on October 21, 2021. In charge of firearms on the set of the Indie Western, Gutierrez-Reed handed the gun containing live rounds to assistant director David Halls. Halls declared the gun “clear” and gave it to Baldwin on the Bonanza Creek Ranch set of the movie. Minutes later, as a rehearsal was underway, Hutchins and director Joel Souza were both shot. Hutchins died not long afterwards. Souza recovered relatively quickly from his wounds.
How live rounds got on the set of Rust still remains a mystery over two years after the shooting.
However, special prosecutors Kerri Morrisey and Jason Lewis have indicated quite heavily that they believe Gutierrez-Reed knows more than she is saying. First charged in early 2023 with the manslaughter claim, the inexperienced armorer saw the evidence tampering charges added when she refused to provide more information on the live rounds. Unlike the initial stumbling probe into the shooting, the 2023 appointed special prosecutors have dug deep into alleged drug use by Gutierrez-Reed as a possible explanation for at least the oversight of the fatal live rounds getting on the Rust set.
In a bulging hearing Wednesday, Judge Sommer also rejected defense lawyer Jason Bowles attempt to bring a seasoned industry armorer on board as a witness at the 11th hour. In the virtual hearing today, special prosecutor Morrisey called the request to allow the new witness or ever push the trial back “absolutely outrageous.” The judge agreed. Judge Sommer agreed as well that the prosecution can speak before the jury in a somewhat limited fashion on Gutierrez-Reed’s alleged indulgence in cocaine and other narcotics, as well as her heavy drinking on the troubled set.
Gutierrez-Reed’s lawyer Bowles did not respond to a request from Deadline today on the results of Wednesday’s hearing. Though to any observer, it was pretty evident he was not happy with the outcome and is considering further filings on the matters at hand.
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While the issues of Hutchins’ death remain unresolved, Rust the film is done.
With Baldwin and Souza back in their respective hyphenated positions, the movie was resurrected in April of last year with production moved to the Yellowstone Film Ranch in Montana. While Hutchins widower dropped his wrongful death suit against Baldwin and producers and became a producer himself on Rust 2.0 and a documentary about his wife, Gutierrez-Reed was distinctly not invited to re-join the film.
Baldwin is looking at a maximum of 18 months behind bars and around $5,000 in fines if found guilty of the involuntary manslaughter charge. The Emmy winning actor is also facing a number of Rust civil cases in both California and New Mexico.
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