‘Rust’ armourer challenges conviction in fatal on-set shooting

SANTA FE, N.M. –

A movie set armourer is challenging her conviction on an involuntary manslaughter charge in the fatal shooting of a cinematographer by Alec Baldwin on the set of the Western film “Rust,” court records released Monday show.

Defence attorneys for “Rust” armourer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed filed a request for a new trial and urged a judge to release the defendant from jail as deliberations proceed.

Gutierrez-Reed was convicted by a jury this month in the shooting on the outskirts of Santa Fe, New Mexico, during a rehearsal in October 2021. Baldwin was indicted by a grand jury in January and has pleaded not guilty to an involuntary manslaughter charge, with trial set for July.

In an emergency court motion, defence attorneys Jason Bowles and Monnica Barreras asserted that the jury instructions in the case “could confuse the jury and lead to a nonunanimous verdict.” Similar objections to the jury instructions were rejected at trial.

Gutierrez-Reed could be sentenced as soon as April 15 under the current scheduling orders from Santa Fe-based Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer.

Involuntary manslaughter carries a felony sentence of up to 18 months in prison and a US$5,000 fine. Gutierrez-Reed is being held pending sentencing at the Santa Fe County Adult Detention Facility.

Baldwin was pointing a gun at cinematographer Halyna Hutchins when the revolver went off, killing Hutchins and wounding director Joel Souza. Baldwin has maintained that he pulled back the gun’s hammer, but not the trigger.

Prosecutors blamed Gutierrez-Reed at a two-week trial for unwittingly bringing live ammunition onto the set of “Rust” where it was expressly prohibited. They also said she failed to follow basic gun safety protocols.

“Rust” assistant director and safety coordinator Dave Halls last year pleaded no contest to negligent handling of a firearm and completed a sentence of six months unsupervised probation.