Hannah Gutierrez-Reed was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter in the ‘Rust’ Film shooting.
Ending the first trial of Halyna Hutchins accidental shooting resulted in a conviction. If you were following the case of Gutierrez-Reed you might not find this surprising due to her history of reckless behavior on previous film sets.
Gutierrez-Reed was not found guilty of evidence tampering due to a split verdict from the 12 member jury in Santa Fe. Jurors returned with their decision with less than three hours of deliberating.
She faces 18 months in prison for her role in the death of Hutchins. She was remanded into custody right after the verdict was read.
The sentencing is expected to be next month. Her lawyers made it clear they plan to appeal the courts decision.
The shooting happened on Oct. 21, 2021, when Gutierrez-Reed handed the loaded weapon to Alec Baldwin on set before filming. She announced that it did not contain live ammunition. Alec Baldwin thinking it was safe continued with the scene. The gun contained live rounds and Hutchins was hit and died from her wounds.
Five live rounds were later found mixed in with dummy rounds on the set. Reports have Gutierrez-Reed shooting live rounds with other crew members, its still unclear how the rounds ended up mixed in with the dummy rounds.
During the trial, prosecutors argued that Gutierrez-Reed was careless in handling the firearms and ammunition on the set. She maintains she believed the gun was loaded with dummy rounds.
Her defense revolved around arguments that she was a scapegoat for larger safety issues on set. She blamed Jason Bowles, and Alec Baldwin among others.
In January, Baldwin was recharged with involuntary manslaughter after the criminal case against him was dropped to reinvestigate the firearm to see if it could misfire. He is set to go to trial in July and has pleaded not guilty, He would face 18 months in prison if convicted.
Los Angeles attorney Tre Lovell said that Baldwin can “use this to his advantage.”
“A jury has found someone responsible for the death of Hutchins, and thus the pressure to convict is less,” he explained. “Second, this doesn’t affect his argument that, as an actor, he had no duty regarding set safety, which includes determining whether or not the gun was loaded. Halls, Gutierrez and the production team all stand before him in the line of criminality.”
Testimony from Halls, in Gutierrez-Reed’s trial, will likely be used against Baldwin in his trial, said attorney Miguel Custodio. He added, “Baldwin has vehemently said that he was handed the gun by Halls, while Halls told the court Gutierrez-Reed handed Baldwin the gun. This is particularly damning because it would show that Baldwin flat out lied to police and to the public about who gave him the gun.”
Lovell added this “should be a wakeup call for producers of low-budget, independent movies” beware of cutting corners when it comes to safety.
It seems outrageous to convict Alec Baldwin of Involuntary manslaughter at this point. With Gutierrez-Reed found guilty, paired with her irresponsibility on set, and the fact that Baldwin was told the gun was safe the blame shouldn’t fall on him.
Dropping charges and then recharging Baldwin make things fishy. Are they trying to make an example of a public figure? Or is there a good reason to uproot his life over someone else’s reckless disregard for safety?
We will see when the evidence comes out, but it will be hard to justify the actions against Baldwin.