Prosecutors are pursuing accountability in the 2021 death of a cinematographer who was shot by actor Alec Baldwin during a rehearsal for the Western movie “Rust." Jury selection begins Wednesday in the trial for weapons supervisor Hannah Gutierrez-Reed in Santa Fe.
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Before Baldwin’s case progresses, the armorer on the set will be tried on charges of involuntary manslaughter and tampering with evidence. Jury selection in Hannah Gutierrez-Reed’s trial starts Wednesday in Santa Fe.
Gutierrez-Reed has pleaded not guilty to the charges and maintains she’s not directly to blame for Halyna Hutchins’ death. Baldwin also has pleaded not guilty to an involuntary manslaughter charge in a separate case.
This case seems rather complex. There was also a charge evidence tampering stemming from a bag of narcotics which Gutierrez-Reed allegedly handed to someone to avoid detection by law enforcement.
Gutierrez-Reed faces up to 18 months in prison and a $5,000 fine if convicted of involuntary manslaughter. The evidence tampering charge stems from accusations she handed a small bag of possible narcotics to another crew member after the shooting to avoid detection by law enforcement.
Her attorneys say that charge is prosecutors’ attempt to smear Gutierrez-Reed’s character. The bag was thrown away without testing the contents, defense attorneys said.
More than 40 people are listed as witnesses during the trial that’s scheduled to run through March 6.
Her attorneys believe she's being unfairly scapegoated.
Gutierrez-Reed’s attorneys say she’s unfairly been scapegoated. They contend live rounds arrived on set from an Albuquerque-based supplier of dummy rounds. They also pointed to a broader “atmosphere” of safety failures that were uncovered during an investigation by state workplace safety inspectors that go beyond Gutierrez-Reed.
Additionally, Gutierrez-Reed is accused in another case of carrying a gun into a bar in downtown Santa Fe in violation of state law. Her attorneys say that charge has been used to try to pressure Gutierrez-Reed into a false confession about the handling of live ammunition on the “Rust” set.
This part was kind of curious:
The company Rust Movie Productions paid a $100,000 fine to the state following a scathing narrative of safety failures in violation of standard industry protocols. The report included testimony that production managers took limited or no action to address two misfires on set before Hutchins was shot.
Prosecutors urged a judge to keep regulators’ conclusions out of the trial because those might be used to argue that “Rust” management was responsible for safety failures, not Gutierrez-Reed.
It seems strange that they prosecutors would seek to keep the regulators' report out of the trial.
The judge in the case
sided last week with Gutierrez-Reed. The report says the production company did not develop a process for ensuring live rounds were kept away from the set and that it failed to give the armorer enough time to thoroughly inventory ammunition.
Baldwin's trial date hasn't been set yet.
Prosecutors Kari Morrissey and Jason Lewis initially dismissed an involuntary manslaughter charge against Baldwin in April, saying they were informed the gun might have been modified before the shooting and malfunctioned.
A more recent analysis of the gun used by Baldwin concluded the “trigger had to be pulled or depressed sufficiently to release the fully cocked or retracted hammer of the evidence revolver.”
“Rust” used an operable revolver. Industry-wide guidance that applied to “Rust” says that “live ammunition is never to be used nor brought onto any studio lot or stage.” It also says to “treat all firearms as if they are loaded.”
A trial date hasn’t been set for Baldwin.
From what they're describing, it seemed like they were running things pretty loosey-goosey in terms of workplace safety. It seems that Baldwin and Guiterrez-Reed should share some responsibility, but there may be others to blame as well.
