Rust armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed will not have to testify at Alec Baldwin’s upcoming involuntary manslaughter trial. Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer denied the prosecution’s motion to compel Gutierrez-Reed to testify with immunity. The judge agreed with Baldwin’s legal team that Gutierrez-Reed has nothing new to add that could bolster the prosecution’s case against Baldwin.
“I haven’t heard of anything that she might testify to that someone else could not testify to,” said Sommer in a heated virtual hearing.
Prosecutors in the state argued there are a few new things she could add, including something captured in a jail recording. But the judge wasn’t buying it. Prosecutors are accusing Baldwin of being reckless with guns on the set of Rust before the fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins ever occurred.
According to court documents obtained by ET in June 2024, special prosecutors Kari T. Morrissey and Erlinda O. Johnson, who are overseeing the prosecution in Baldwin’s upcoming involuntary manslaughter trial, allege that the actor engaged in “horseplay” with a gun during training and allege that his nature during filming was “erratic and aggressive.”
Furthermore, they claim that Baldwin fired a blank round at a crew member while simultaneously using the crew member to establish a line of sight. It’s also being alleged that the actor and producer insisted on not being held to industry safety standards when filming resumed months after the fatal shooting.
Additionally, the judge denied Baldwin’s last-ditch effort to have the case against him tossed. His case begins in July 2024.
The judge’s rulings come after Gutierrez-Reed was officially sentenced after being found guilty of involuntary manslaughter in connection to Hutchins’ death more than two years ago.
On April 15, a judge sentenced her to 18 months at a New Mexico Correctional Facility, noting that her “reckless” actions on set led directly to Hutchins’ death.
Gutierrez-Reed gave an emotional statement in court, saying she was disheartened by the way the media has portrayed her as a “monster” and offering her prayers to Hutchins’ family to find peace.
Hannah Gutierrez-Reed – Youtube/Court TV
On March 6, a New Mexico jury deliberated for two and a half hours before returning on the guilty verdict on the involuntary manslaughter count and not guilty of tampering with evidence. As the jury read the verdict in a packed courtroom, she showed no emotion and calmly removed a necklace before she was remanded into custody, as requested by state prosecutors.
Gutierrez-Reed’s lawyers sought to have their client out of jail until her sentencing date, but the judge immediately ruled against them.
“The reason why I’m going to remand you is you are now convicted, and this is a death,” the judge said. “This is criminal negligence, but it’s still death and so, deputies you are going to take her into custody.”
In a statement to ET, Gloria Allred and John Carpenter, the attorneys representing Hutchins’ parents, Olga Solovey and Anatolli Androsovych, and sister, Svetlana Zemkoand, reacted to the verdict in a statement to ET.
“Halyna’s parents and her sister have always wanted everyone who is responsible for Halyna’s death to be held accountable. Today was the first trial and conviction in the criminal justice process,” the statement read. “We are satisfied that the jury, based on the evidence, found Hannah Gutierrez-Reed guilty beyond a reasonable doubt for her part in the taking of Halyna’s life.”
“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,” the statement concluded.
Baldwin has pled not guilty to an involuntary manslaughter charge in connection to Hutchins’ death more than two years ago on the set of Rust.
On Jan. 31, Baldwin filed a waiver of arraignment in Santa Fe County, New Mexico’s First Judicial District Court. ET has reached out to Baldwin’s legal team for comment.
But nearly week after Baldwin waived arraignment, a judge reassignment occurred on Feb. 6. This move triggered the First Judicial District Court to cancel the Aug. 6 jury selection date, thus canceling the trial date.
Baldwin’s not guilty plea came 12 days after special prosecutors Kari T. Morrissey and Jason Lewis announced that the 65-year-old faces up to 18 months in prison if convicted of the fourth-degree felony. The special prosecutors had said back in October 2023 that they intended to present their case to a grand jury to determine if probable cause existed to criminally charge the actor over the film’s cinematographer’s death on Oct. 21, 2021.
Attorney Gloria Allred also responded to the involuntary manslaughter charge news, telling ET in a statement, “Our clients have always sought the truth about what happened on the day that Halyna Hutchins was tragically shot and killed on October 21, 2021. They continue to seek the truth in our civil lawsuit for them and they also would like there to be accountability in the criminal justice system.”
Hutchins was killed on the set of Rust when the prop gun Baldwin was holding suddenly discharged, striking and killing the cinematographer and injuring Souza.
In the months since tragedy struck in New Mexico, lawsuits were filed, criminal charges were filed — then dropped, for Baldwin — and allegations were made, including that the film’s armorer, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, consumed alcohol and smoked marijuana during filming of the Western.
Then, on June 29, 2023, prosecutors filed legal documents claiming Gutierrez-Reed “transferred a ‘small bag of cocaine'” to a witness it has been in contact with. Prosecutors allege the incident happened on Oct. 21, 2021 after the embattled Rust armorer returned from her interview at the police station on the day of the fatal shooting.
Furthermore, prosecutors allege that the transfer of evidence “strongly support the charge that Hannah transferred the cocaine to avoid prosecution and prevent law enforcement from obtaining evidences directly related to Hannah’s handling of the firearm and the circumstances of the fatal shooting of Halyna Hutchins.”
Gutierrez-Reed has now entered a plea in her case and a trial date has been set for February.
In a statement to ET, Gutierrez-Reed’s lawyer, Jason Bowles, questioned how prosecutors were able to get “a secret witness” to appear 20 months later.
“With no actual corroboration or evidence? And the state won’t identify the person?” Bowles added. “This is a throwback to the secret, star chamber prosecutions in England in the 15th century that were abolished. Like everything else with the state’s case and investigation, it’s full of sound and fury, but signifying nothing.”
As for allegations she consumed alcohol and smoked marijuana during filming of the Western, prosecutors alleged in court documents, obtained by ET, that she likely was hungover when she loaded the prop gun with a “live bullet.” Prosecutors also claimed witnesses told investigators that Gutierrez-Reed “was drinking heavily and smoking marijuana in the evenings during the shooting of Rust.”
“It is likely that Defendant Gutierrez was hungover when she inserted a live bullet into a gun that she knew was going to be used at some point by an actor while filming a shooting scene with other actors and crew members,” prosecutors said in the filing in response to a May motion by Gutierrez-Reed’s attorneys to dismiss an indictment against her.
ET has been covering the story since the news first broke on Oct. 21, 2021. Here’s everything that has come to light since the fatal shooting.
