Armourer found guilty of Halyna Hutchins' death on Alec Baldwin film Rust

Film And TV
07 Mar 24

Armourer found guilty of Halyna Hutchins' death on Alec Baldwin film Rust

Armourer found guilty of Halyna Hutchins' death on Alec Baldwin film <I> Rust</I>

Photo: Hannah Gutierrez-Reed IMDB

Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, an armourer on the film set of Rust convicted of involuntary manslaughter in shooting by Baldwin.

Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, who loaded a gun for actor Alec Baldwin before it fired and killed a cinematographer has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter.

Ms Gutierrez-Reed was found not guilty of a second charge - tampering with evidence over the 2021 shooting of Halyna Hutchins on the set of Rust.

Haylna Hutchins, who was 42 years old at the time, was killed after a gun Baldwin used in a rehearsal fired a live round on the set of the Western in New Mexico.

Ms Gutierrez-Reed faces up to 18 months in jail. She will be sentenced later.

Jurors deliberated for three hours before returning Wednesday's verdict of guilty on the charge of involuntary manslaughter and not guilty of tampering of evidence.

The victim's parents and sister said they were "satisfied" with the verdict.

In a statement the family said:"We look forward to the justice system continuing to make sure that everyone else who is responsible for Halyna's death is required to face the legal consequences for their actions."

Prosecutors said Gutierrez-Reed had failed to ensure the weapon was only loaded with dummy rounds - fake bullets used to look and sound like real ones.

"This case is about constant, never-ending safety failures that resulted in the death of a human being," prosecutor Kari T Morrissey said during closing arguments on Wednesday.

Gutierrez-Reed was "negligent", "careless" and "thoughtless" when she failed to notice that live bullets had mixed with dummy rounds in a box of ammunition on set, Ms Morrissey told the jurors.

One of those bullets was in the firearm that was used by Mr Baldwin, prosecutors said.

Baldwin will also face a manslaughter trial in July, however Mr Baldwin's counsel said Gutierrez-Reed's sentencing was "very positive" for her client's upcoming case.

He could not have foreseen that there was a live round on set because the "safety, maintenance and care of the firearm and the ammunition" was the responsibility of the armourer, Misty Marris told CNN.

"It means that someone has been held legally criminally culpable for the death of Halyna Hutchins," Ms Marris explained.

She said Mr Baldwin would argue that "it was not foreseeable that there was a real bullet in that gun".

Last year, Rust's cast and crew finished filming in tribute to Ms Hutchins, with her husband serving as an executive producer.