“Ms. Gutierrez was negligent on the set,” prosecutors bluntly told a Santa Fe jury today in the opening day of the trial of Rust armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed for the fatal on-set shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on October 21, 2021.
“We intend to call several witnesses to give testimony that she regularly failed to properly carry out her duties as an armorer,” special prosecutor Jason Lewis went on say as the defendant sat nearby. “These witnesses are going to describe the defendants conduct was unprofessional and sloppy,” he added.
Augmenting his opening statement by showing the courtroom a photo of the long barrel Colt gun that shot Hutchins, video of Alec Baldwin practicing drawing his gun on-set and boxed live round gun cartridges Lewis stated, “you will hear testimony that she routinely left guns and ammunition lying around the set unattended and that her gun safe and ammo cart were constantly disorganized.”
With a trial for Rust star/producer Baldwin now looking to begin this summer, Gutierrez-Reed herself is looking at up to three years behind bars if found guilty in the killing of Hutchins. The former armorer’s trial is expected to last until around March 8 – though Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer initially said “May 8” in her opening remarks to the jury Thursday.
Everything started a little later than planned due to a juror being “stuck in an accident,” according to Judge Sommer this morning. Consequently, the first real day of the trial didn’t see the jury come in around 8:30 a.m. PT, almost an hour later than scheduled. Sitting right at the front of the partially full Santa Fe County courtroom, a clearly nervous looking Gutierrez-Reed stared straight ahead as the judge read out instructions that she “did cause the death of Halyna Hutchins and the specific involuntary manslaughter and evidence tampering charges against her.
A jury of 12 with four alternates were picked for the trial in State v. Hannah Gutierrez after an all-day session Wednesday. Of the dozen New Mexico jurors, five are female and seven are male. All the alternates are men.
Defense lawyer Jason Bowles is set to give his opening statement in the next few minutes as the jury reenters the courtroom after a short break.
First charged back in January 2023, the now 27-year-old Gutierrez-Reed has entered a plea of not guilty in the case. Her lawyer Jason Bowles refused a deal offered by the Special Prosecutors late last year that would have averted the criminal negligence trial. That semi-secret deal was contingent on Gutierrez-Reed providing more information on how live rounds got on the set of the Indie Western.
Allegations of hard drug use and heavy drinking were suddenly leveled against Gutierrez-Reed when she declined the prosecution deal, with evidence tampering charges added not long afterwards when she refused to provide more information about the live rounds.
In clear contrast to the fumbled investigation by the Santa Fe Sheriff’s office and the local DA into what happened on the troubled Rust, the special prosecutors appointed last year have taken a more systematic approach to their case. As a part of that, Lewis and Morrissey have spotlighted the alleged drug use by Gutierrez-Reed as a possible explanation for how those fatal live rounds got on the Rust set and into the 1880s gun that ended up in Baldwin’s hands that October 2021 day.
Having entered a not guilty plea of his own recently, Alec Baldwin faces at a maximum of 18 months behind bars and around $5,000 in fines if found guilty of his involuntary manslaughter charge. The Emmy winning actor was recharged last month after a Grand Jury indictment. Baldwin, who insists he never pulled the trigger on the gun that killed Hutchins, is also facing a number of Rust civil cases in both California and New Mexico.
As all these suits are ongoing, Rust was resurrected last year and completed with further filming in Montana. Souza was back as director, and Baldwin as star and producer. Gutierrez-Reed was not asked to return to the production. Out at to market at various festivals and conferences, the finished Rust is currently looking for a buyer.
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