Prosecutors in New Mexico are seeking accountability for the 2021 death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, who was fatally shot by actor Alec Baldwin during a rehearsal for the Western film “Rust.” Before Baldwin’s case advances, the armorer on the set, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, is being tried on charges of involuntary manslaughter and tampering with evidence. Jury selection for Gutierrez-Reed’s trial began Wednesday in Santa Fe.
Gutierrez-Reed has pleaded not guilty to the charges and maintains she is not directly responsible for Hutchins’ death. Baldwin has also pleaded not guilty to an involuntary manslaughter charge in a separate case.
The process of selecting 12 jurors started with a pool of 70 residents from the Santa Fe area, including non-English speakers, a welder, a teacher, a graduate student, and a mother of six. A prosecutor began by questioning jurors about their exposure to extensive media coverage and social media discussions about the case.
Prosecutors plan to present evidence that Gutierrez-Reed loaded a live round into the gun that killed Hutchins after unknowingly bringing live ammunition onto a set where it was expressly prohibited. They argue that the armorer missed multiple opportunities to ensure safety on the movie set. Defense attorneys, however, claim they have evidence to the contrary.
The evidence and testimony have implications for Baldwin, who was pointing a gun at Hutchins during an October 2021 rehearsal outside Santa Fe when she was killed, and director Joel Souza was wounded.
Gutierrez-Reed, the stepdaughter of renowned sharpshooter and weapons consultant Thell Reed, was 24 at the time of Hutchins’ death. “Rust” was her second assignment as an armorer in a feature film. If convicted of involuntary manslaughter, she faces up to 18 months in prison and a $5,000 fine. The evidence tampering charge stems from accusations that she handed a small bag of possible narcotics to another crew member after the shooting to avoid detection by law enforcement. Her attorneys argue that this charge is an attempt by prosecutors to smear her character, noting that the bag was discarded without testing its contents.
More than 40 people are listed as witnesses during the trial, which is scheduled to run through March 6.
Authorities found six rounds of ammunition on the movie set in various locations, including a box, a gun belt, and a bandolier worn by Baldwin. Baldwin has stated that he assumed the gun only contained rounds that couldn’t be fired. Special prosecutors argue that Gutierrez-Reed unwittingly brought live rounds onto the set and that Hutchins died due to a series of negligent acts by the armorer. They assert that she should have noticed the live rounds and intervened long before the shooting.
Gutierrez-Reed’s attorneys claim she has been unfairly scapegoated. They argue that live rounds arrived on set from an Albuquerque-based supplier of dummy rounds and point to a broader atmosphere of safety failures 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 argue that this charge has been used to pressure her into a false confession about the handling of live ammunition on the “Rust” set.
Gutierrez-Reed was responsible for the storage, maintenance, and handling of firearms and ammunition on set, as well as for training cast members who would be handling firearms, according to state workplace safety regulators. Live rounds are typically distinguished from dummy rounds by a small hole in the dummy’s brass cartridge, indicating there is no explosive inside, or by shaking the round to hear the clatter of a BB inside. A missing or dimpled primer at the bottom of the cartridge is another trait of dummy rounds.
Rust Movie Productions paid a $100,000 fine to the state following a scathing report of safety failures that violated 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 exclude the regulators’ conclusions from the trial, arguing that they might be used to claim that “Rust” management was responsible for safety failures, not Gutierrez-Reed. The judge sided with Gutierrez-Reed, noting that the production company did not develop a process for ensuring live rounds were kept away from the set and failed to give the armorer enough time to thoroughly inventory ammunition.
Baldwin, the lead actor and a co-producer on “Rust,” was indicted in January on an involuntary manslaughter charge. Baldwin has stated that he pulled back the gun’s hammer but did not pull the trigger, and the weapon fired. The charge against Baldwin provides two alternative standards for prosecution: one based on the negligent use of a firearm and another tied to negligence without due caution or “circumspection,” defined as “total disregard or indifference for the safety of others.” Legal experts suggest that the latter standard could broaden the investigation beyond Baldwin’s handling of the gun.
Prosecutors Kari Morrissey and Jason Lewis initially dismissed an involuntary manslaughter charge against Baldwin in April, citing information that the gun might have been modified before the shooting and malfunctioned. A more recent analysis of the gun concluded that the “trigger had to be pulled or depressed sufficiently to release the fully cocked or retracted hammer of the evidence revolver.”
Industry-wide guidance that applied to “Rust” states to “treat all firearms as if they are loaded.” A trial date has not been set for Baldwin.
Source: Associated Press, Los Angeles Times
