The armorer for the doomed Rust film has entered a New Mexico courtroom to face trial for the 2021 death of a cinematographer fatally shot by Alec Baldwin during a rehearsal.
Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, 25, has pleaded not guilty to charges of involuntary manslaughter and tampering with evidence.
Halyna Hutchins died in 2021 after Gutierrez-Reed mistakenly loaded a live round into a reproduction Colt .45 revolver that Baldwin was rehearsing with on the movie set outside Santa Fe.
Prosecutors plan to present evidence that Gutierrez-Reed loaded a live round into the gun that killed Hutchins after unknowingly bringing live ammunition onto a set where it was expressly prohibited. They contend the armorer missed multiple opportunities to ensure safety on the movie set.
If found guilty, Gutierrez-Reed could be sentenced to 18 months in prison and fined $5,000.
Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, 25, has entered a New Mexico courtroom to face trial for the 2021 death of a cinematographer fatally shot by Alec Baldwin during a rehearsal
Rust armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed was seen arriving in court as a jury was selected for her trial of the 2021 death of a cinematographer who was shot by Alec Baldwin
Baldwin, the lead actor and a co-producer on the Western movie ‘Rust,’ was pointing a gun at cinematographer Halyna Hutchins (pictured) during a rehearsal outside Santa Fe in October 2021 when the gun went off, killing her
The revolver Baldwin was holding fired the round that killed Hutchins. He said he had accidentally killed Hutchins and denies pulling the trigger
Jurors were chosen from a pool of 70 residents from the Santa Fe area that included non-English speakers, a welder, a teacher, a graduate student and a mother who provides for six children. Prosecutors asked potential jurors about their exposure to intensive media coverage and social media chatter about the case.
Baldwin also has pleaded not guilty to an involuntary manslaughter charge in a separate case.
Gutierrez-Reed, the stepdaughter of renowned sharpshooter and weapons consultant Thell Reed, was 24 at the time of Hutchins’ death. “Rust” was her second assignment as an armorer in a feature film.
The evidence tampering charge stems from accusations she handed a small bag of possible narcotics to another crew member after the shooting to avoid detection by law enforcement.
Her attorneys say that charge is prosecutors’ attempt to smear Gutierrez-Reed’s character. The bag was thrown away without testing the contents, defense attorneys said.
Authorities found six rounds of ammunition on the movie set in locations that included a box, a gun belt and a bandolier worn by Baldwin. Baldwin has said he assumed the gun only had rounds that couldn’t be fired.
The gun Baldwin used to shoot Hutchins supplied by the armorer, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed (pictured)
Baldwin is seen in the parking lot outside the Santa Fe County Sherriff’s office
Special prosecutors have argued in court filings that Hutchins died because of a series of negligent acts by Gutierrez-Reed. They say she should have noticed live rounds and intervened long before the shooting.
Gutierrez-Reed’s attorneys say she’s unfairly been scapegoated. They contend live rounds arrived on set from an Albuquerque-based supplier of dummy rounds. They also pointed to a broader atmosphere of safety failures uncovered during an investigation by state workplace safety inspectors that go beyond Gutierrez-Reed.
Additionally, Gutierrez-Reed is accused in another case of carrying a gun into a bar in downtown Santa Fe in violation of state law. Her attorneys say that charge has been used to try to pressure Gutierrez-Reed into a false confession about the handling of live ammunition on the “Rust” set.
More than 40 people are listed as witnesses for the trial set to run through March 6.
Baldwin, the lead actor and a co-producer on Rust, was indicted in January on an involuntary manslaughter charge.
Baldwin has said he pulled back the gun’s hammer — not the trigger — and the weapon fired.