Rust armourer attorney files for dismissal after Alec Baldwin case collapse
An attorney for convicted “Rust” movie armourer Hannah Gutierrez Reed has filed a motion for a new trial or to have her case thrown out, after the related case against actor Alec Baldwin was dismissed in dramatic fashion last week.
The attorneys filed the motion Tuesday in Santa Fe First Judicial District Court, citing “egregious prosecutorial misconduct” and multiple allegations of “severe and ongoing discovery violations by the State.”
Gutierrez’s attorneys request the court order her prison release and the removal of Kari Morrissey as the special prosecutor “for the misconduct that has been found, and the violations committed in Ms. Gutierrez Reed’s case.”
On Friday, the involuntary manslaughter case against actor Alec Baldwin was dismissed after the judge overseeing the case ruled prosecutors did not properly turn over evidence to the defence.
Legal experts said the collapse of the actor’s case could result in Gutierrez Reed being freed from the New Mexico state prison where she’s serving an 18-month sentence following her conviction in March of involuntary manslaughter in the on-set fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins in 2021.
Jason Bowles, Gutierrez Reed’s attorney, previously told CNN the same failures that caused the dismissal of the charges against Baldwin – specifically the prosecution’s withholding of evidence – were present in his client’s case.
“The judge found intentional misconduct and we also have had the same failures in Hannah’s case by the state. We will be moving for dismissal of Hannah’s case,” Bowles said. Gutierrez Reed previously filed an appeal of her conviction.
The shooting occurred on Oct. 21, 2021. Baldwin was on the set at a ranch outside Santa Fe practicing a “cross draw” with a prop gun – pulling it from a holster on the opposite side of his body from his draw hand – when it fired a live round, killing Hutchins and injuring director Joel Souza.
As the armourer, Gutierrez Reed was responsible for firearm safety and storage. At her trial, prosecutors argued she repeatedly violated safety protocol and acted without caution in performing her duties, ultimately leading to Hutchins’ death. Gutierrez Reed’s defense attorney argued she has been scapegoated for the safety failures of film set management and other crew members.
Baldwin was two days into his own involuntary manslaughter trial when it imploded last Friday over revelations of withheld evidence.
Baldwin’s attorneys had filed a motion to dismiss the day prior, arguing the state withheld potentially favorable evidence – a violation of the Brady rule, which requires prosecutors to disclose such information to defendants. Specifically, the lawyers claimed the state did not share with them a man had delivered to investigators a batch of unexamined ammunition purportedly connected to the case after Gutierrez Reed’s conviction.
On Friday, during a chaotic, hourslong hearing, special prosecutor Kari Morrissey took the stand as a witness, testifying investigators had determined the ammunition was not a match to those found on the “Rust” set and had no evidentiary value. The lead investigator, however, testified the rounds looked “similar” to the dummy rounds on “Rust’s” set.
Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer ruled prosecutors did not properly turn over evidence to the defence. She dismissed the case with prejudice, meaning it cannot be brought again.
“I fully expect Hannah Gutierrez Reed to make the same argument for her conviction to be overturned,” Neama Rahmani, a former federal prosecutor, told CNN. “This evidence is more exculpatory and exonerates Gutierrez Reed even more than Baldwin.”
“It won’t just be Alec Baldwin who’s a free man,” Rahmani added. “Hannah Gutierrez Reed will go free as well. And it’s really a tragedy to the victims in this case.”
This is a developing story and will be updated.
