Convicted ‘Rust’ armourer pleading guilty to bringing gun into New Mexico bar
Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, the convicted armourer from the set of the movie Rust, which saw cinematographer Halyna Hutchins killed after a prop gun was fired in an incident involving Alec Baldwin, has agreed to plead guilty to bringing a gun into a bar in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
In March, Gutierrez-Reed was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter in Hutchins’ death. According to prosecutor Kari Morrissey, she had not taken sufficient care of the props on set, which included bringing live ammunition onto the set that was not called for on the day. Due to her neglect of gun safety protocols, she was sentenced to 18 months in prison.
After actor Baldwin’s defence argued that the prosecution had concealed vital evidence about the ammunition from the court, on July 12th, Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer dismissed the case and declared it cannot be resubmitted. This saw the manslaughter case against him be dropped. The actor also faced up to 18 months in prison if he had been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter.
Sommer conceded that the prosecution were “highly prejudicial” towards the actor and apologised that there was “no way for the court to right this wrong”.
Following the Baldwin dismissal, Gutierrez-Reed asked for an overturn of her involuntary manslaughter conviction. Her attorney, Jason Bowles, claimed vital evidence should have been shared before her trial, which he believes would have altered the case. He also wants her released from prison and Morrissey removed from the case.
Now, though, Gutierrez-Reed, who is already serving her sentence regarding the death of Hutchins, has agreed to plead guilty to bringing a gun into a bar in Santa Fe. She is to be sentenced to 18 months of probation. Her plea does not affect the Hutchins case.
Last autumn, when the manslaughter case was still pending, Gutierrez-Reed was indicted by prosecutors on an additional felony charge of bringing a gun into the Matador bar on October 1st, 2021, roughly three weeks before Hutchins’ death. She could well have faced an additional 18 months in prison for the bar incident but will now get to serve supervised probation from her Arizona home.
Her defence has argued that this latest charge was a means of pressuring her into pleading guilty to manslaughter and taking responsibility for bringing live rounds onto the Rust set, which she denies.
On September 4th, a hearing was scheduled for the defence to motion to throw out the gun case, with them arguing Morrissey did not have the authority to bring forward the charge, as it is unrelated to the Rust tragedy. They also contend that the charge is vindictive and retribution for refusing to accept the plea deal in the manslaughter case and is a result of an unusually in-depth search of the armourer’s phone.
The hearing has now been cancelled, and the defence is asking for a new one next week so Gutierrez-Reed can enter her plea. A separate hearing is set for September 26th for Gutierrez-Reed’s motion for a new trial in the manslaughter case.
This is a developing story.
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