Armourer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter on the movie set for Rust.
Ms Guttierrez-Reed was found guilty, after mistakenly loading a live round into a reproduction Colt.45 revolver, which was being used by actor Alec Baldwin on set.
This led to the tragic death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins. Director Joel Souza was also injured in the blast, which took place in October 2021.
The trial was brought to a close after ten days of testimony, concluding a trial over Hollywood’s first on-set fatal shooting in nearly three decades.
Hannah Gutierrrez-Reed who was acquitted of a second charge of evidence tampering, was ordered to be taken into immediate custody, facing up to 18 months in prison.
As she was being led away in court, she told her mother “I’ll be okay”.
“constant, never-ending safety failures”
In the incident, Mr Baldwin cocked the gun, before pointing it towards the camera, leading to the death of Halyna Hutchins.
Several witnesses ranging from director Souza to assistant director Dave Halls, told the court that it was beyond everybody’s imagination that live rounds could have been mixed with dummy rounds on the production.
A Santa Fe detective also said that there was “circumstantial evidence” to suggest that Gutierrez-Reed unwittingly brought these live rounds to the Rust set from a previous production. Live rounds are strictly forbidden on movie sets.
While a half a dozen Rust crew members also testified that safety meetings were skipped. They also claimed that Guttierrez-Reed had failed to check if weapons were loaded.
New Mexico state special prosecutor Kari Morrissey showed photos taken up to ten days before the shooting, showing a live round in the box, and one in Alec Baldwin’s belt.
“That’s a mountain of circumstantial evidence,” Morrissey stated. “This was a game of Russian roulette every time an actor had a gun loaded with dummies”.
In her closing statement, she said, “This case is about constant, never-ending safety failures that resulted in the death of a human being and nearly killed another”, she told the jury.
“scapegoat”
Speaking in her defence, lawyer Jason Bowles alleged that the Rust production company employed his client as both part-time armourer, and props assistant, in order to cut costs.
Brian Carpenter a movie-set firearms safety expert did say that more armourers were needed on set.
Bowles claimed that Ms Gutierrez-Reed, as the least experienced member of the team, was being used as a “scapegoat”.
“You’ve got a convenient fall person, a convenient scapegoat”, he insisted.
He also insisted that props supplier, Seth Kenney, is responsible for supplying these live rounds. Mr Kenney has not been charged.
Mr Bowles added that Mr Kenney was not searched until a month after the shooting, allowing him the chance to dispose of any incriminating evidence.
He also said that the accused did not show “willful disregard” for other people’s safety, which is a requirement to convict her of involuntary manslaughter, or improper use of a firearm, which carries a six month prison sentence.
Witnesses also claimed that Alec Baldwin broke basic firearm safety rules. The actor denies pulling the trigger. He is due to face trial for manslaughter on July 10.
