Judge considering motion to dismiss ‘Rust’ armorer Hannah Gutierrez Reed’s case

By Eric Levenson, CNN

(CNN) — A New Mexico judge is considering a motion to dismiss the case against “Rust” armorer Hannah Gutierrez Reed, who was convicted of involuntary manslaughter for the 2021 death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.

A hearing was held Thursday to review a July motion from attorneys for Gutierrez Reed for a new trial or to have her case thrown out, citing “egregious prosecutorial misconduct” and multiple allegations of “severe and ongoing discovery violations by the state.”

Gutierrez Reed’s attorneys also asked the court to order her prison release and to remove Kari Morrissey as the case’s special prosecutor “for the misconduct that has been found, and the violations committed in Ms. Gutierrez Reed’s case.”

In response, prosecutors asked the court to deny the request for immediate release, saying it was “premature.” The judge said she would issue a ruling on the motion to dismiss next week and would consider the request for her release.

The hearing comes almost three years after cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, 42, was killed by a live round of ammunition fired from a prop gun held by Baldwin on the set of the western film on October 21, 2021. The film’s director was also injured in the shooting.

The shocking on-set killing of Hutchins was the first of its kind since the 1993 death of actor Brandon Lee on the set of “The Crow” and led to sharp questions about how live rounds made their way to the set and whether Baldwin violated firearm safety rules.

Gutierrez Reed, who as armorer was in charge of firearms on the movie set, was convicted of involuntary manslaughter in March and is serving an 18-month sentence for her role in Hutchins’ death.

At her trial, prosecutors argued she repeatedly violated safety protocol and was negligent in performing her duties, allowing six live rounds on to the set. Her defense attorney argued she was scapegoated for the safety failures of film set management and other crew members.

Baldwin was also charged with involuntary manslaughter and had pleaded not guilty. At his trial in July, prosecutors alleged he violated the “cardinal rules of firearm safety” by pointing the prop gun at Hutchins and pulling the trigger, while the defense blamed the film’s armorer and the first assistant director for allowing a real bullet to be loaded into Baldwin’s prop gun.

But just days after his trial began, Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer threw out the charges and ruled prosecutors did not properly turn over evidence to the defense. The judge called the withholding of evidence “intentional and deliberate” and dismissed the case with prejudice, meaning it cannot be brought again.

Baldwin’s attorneys had argued state investigators did not properly share with the defense that a man had given investigators a box of ammunition purportedly connected to the case. The allegation derailed the trial and led to a bizarre scene in which the special prosecutor agreed to take the stand as a witness and answer sharp questions under oath from defense attorney Alex Spiro.

Separately, assistant film director David Halls took a plea deal in 2023 for his role in the shooting. He pleaded no contest to one count of negligent use of a deadly weapon and was sentenced to six months of unsupervised probation.

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CNN’s Cheri Mossburg and Cindy Von Quednow contributed to this report.