Criminal Case Against ‘Rust’ Armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed Will Move Forward

The criminal case against "Rust" armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed will continue, despite her legal team's attempts to get the charges against her dismissed.

In January 2023, the rookie armorer and actor Alec Baldwin were charged with two counts of involuntary manslaughter regarding their respective roles in the October 21, 2021, fatal shooting of "Rust" cinematographer Halyna Hutchins. Director Joel Souza was also hospitalized in the accidental shooting, but neither faced charges related to his injuries.

The charges against the "30 Rock" actor were dropped in April 2023 pending further investigation, although the charges were dismissed without prejudice, meaning that special prosecutors can still press charges against the actor again if they find that there is enough evidence to take him to trial. Although Gutierrez-Reed's legal team tried to argue the same, a New Mexico judge has decided not to dismiss the charges and will allow special prosecutors to move forward.

Unfortunately for Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, she was not able to get the charges against her dismissed, despite numerous attempts from her legal team. On Tuesday, Judge Mary Sommer rejected a move to dismiss the case. Her legal team had argued that not only did the special prosecutors not have the proper authority to bring charges against her, but her due process rights were violated in the investigation and that a fair trial by her peers was no longer possible due to headlines alleging frequent drug use.

The weeklong hearing will start on August 9 and will decide if there is enough probable cause for the case to go to trial, as reported by The Hollywood Reporter, which noted that the preliminary examination is taking place nearly two years after the fatal shooting first occurred. The prosecution has faced numerous setbacks so far. Among the first was Baldwin's legal team successfully getting the firearm enhancement charge dismissed from one of the charges. Although the firearm enhancement would have resulted in a mandatory five-year prison sentence and a $5,000 fine if convicted, his legal team successfully argued that the charge was unconstitutional, as it was not even signed into law at the time the shooting took place.

Baldwin's legal team also successfully argued that former special prosecutor Andrea Reeb had to step down from the case due to a conflict of interest with her elected position in the New Mexico legislature. Shortly before a judge was about to make a decision as to whether or not she had to step down from the case, Reeb decided to back down herself. In April, Santa Fe District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies also decided to step down. Current special prosecutors Kari Morrissey and Jason Lewis were appointed to replace them only about a week before they decided to drop charges against the "Supercell" actor.

In addition to facing two counts of involuntary manslaughter related to the death of Halyna Hutchins, Gutierrez-Reed is also facing a charge of tampering with evidence, which was filed against her in June 2023. According to a court filing, prosecutors claim they found a witness who told them that the armorer transferred “narcotics to another person with the intent to prevent the apprehension, prosecution or conviction of herself.” They allege that Gutierrez-Reed was also "hungover" on set, alleging that she was reckless when loading the gun, filling it with live ammunition instead of dummy rounds.

Hannah Gutierrez-Reed and her legal team have slammed these statements. In court documents obtained by The Blast in July 2023, her legal team claimed that prosecutors “unleashed a repeated deluge of very prejudicial statements” about the armorer, insisting that the claims made by prosecutors were “designed to influence potential jurors as to her guilt.”

They also state that rumors about her drug and alcohol use have been “recklessly thrown out as unsupported rumors and innuendo.” Her legal team has gone on to condemn these “completely unsupported statements,” adding that the state has still not identified a single witness “to substantiate its reckless claims."

Although the legal team tried to get the charges against her dismissed based on these "reckless claims," during Tuesday's hearing, Judge Mary Sommer said that Gutierrez-Reed can still receive a fair trial if the prosecution’s actions don’t rise to an “exceptional” circumstance. “As an officer of the court, Morrissey said she’s conducting an independent investigation, and there’s no reason not to believe her as she’s finding more and more information,” the judge said in court documents obtained by The Blast.

Jason Bowles, a lawyer for Gutierrez-Reed, insisted that his client has become the victim of false rumors. “To date, there’s been no witness to substantiate that,” Bowles said of Hannah Gutierrez-Reed's alleged drug use. “The idea of saying someone was hungover and trying to prove that in court — I don’t know you could prove that.”

Sommer responded by saying that the "Rust" armorer  “must be able to show definite and not speculative prejudice” and that “the assertion of tainting a jury pool is ahead of game” since the preliminary examination will not involve jurors. In other words, if the prosecutors can't provide enough evidence to warrant a trial, then Hannah Gutierrez-Reed won't even have to worry about a jury.

First assistant director David Halls pled guilty to the charge of negligent use of a deadly weapon and is serving six months probation and a suspended sentence in a plea deal reached with Andrea Reeb. Since Reeb is no longer on the case, Bowles questioned whether Halls' plea deal should still stand, as Halls was the one who had handed the loaded gun to Baldwin and declared it a "cold gun" just before it was fired.

Morrissey said that the judge could strike the deal, but noted that Bowles can't actually raise that argument because he only represents Gutierrez-Reed and not Halls. “If Mr. Halls wants to withdraw his plea, he can file,” Morrissey said. “I had nothing to do with any of those negotiations.” The special prosecutor noted that she was told that she could not terminate the plea deal herself because it had already been signed.

As part of the plea deal, Halls is expected to testify testify against Gutierrez-Reed as a witness for the prosecution. At this time, it is still unclear if Alec Baldwin will face criminal charges. In early June, special prosecutors announced that they would make their decision within the next sixty days.