‘Rust’ Armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed Pleads Not Guilty, Trial Scheduled For December
By Kristin Myers on August 10, 2023 at 12:00 PM EDT
“Rust” armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed is pleading not guilty to two charges of involuntary manslaughter and an added charge of tampering with evidence.
The rookie armorer is being charged for the death of “Rust” cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the “Rust” set at the Bonanza Creek Ranch near Santa Fe, New Mexico on October 21, 2021. A tampering with evidence charge was later added after prosecutors said a witness came forward to say that she transferred cocaine to another person on the day Hutchins died.
Actor Alec Baldwin had been also charged with two counts of involuntary manslaughter; however, those charges were dropped in April 2023 without prejudice. In early June, prosecutors said he could be charged again at any time.
'Rust' Armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed Pleads Not Guilty Following The Death Of Halyna Hutchins
On Wednesday, a preliminary hearing was supposed to take place that determined whether or not prosecutors had enough evidence to take the case to trial. However, last Friday, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed waived her right to a preliminary hearing. She pleaded not guilty.
The trial before District Court Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer is scheduled to take place from December 6 through December 15 in Santa Fe. Jury selection is estimated to begin only one day before the trial starts, on December 5.
On August 7, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed entered her not guilty plea, which read, “After reading and understanding the above, I hereby give up my right to personally appear before the District Court for arraignment and I hereby enter a plea of not guilty to all criminal offenses charged in the above styled cause.”
If found guilty, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed could face up to three years behind bars.
Judge Rejects Hannah Gutierrez-Reed’s Attempts To Have Charges Dismissed
As The Blast previously reported, the judge repeatedly denied “Rust” armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed’s attempts to get the charges against her dismissed over the prosecution’s previous statements to the media. They alleged that a witness told them that she was “hungover” on the day of the shooting and transferred cocaine to another individual on the day that Halyna Hutchins was killed.
Lawyers argued that this news, which was splashed across headlines, could taint a potential juror pool. However, Judge Sommer argued that the defense did not show any evidence that a juror pool had been tainted by what the prosecution had to say.
In a filing to dismiss the motion in May, her attorneys Jason Bowles and Todd Bullion said, “Because this prosecution was motivated by personal interests — not the facts or the law — it was shaped with the goal of prevailing in the court of public opinion, not a jury trial. As a result, corners were cut and the prosecution team committed other due process and ethical violations.”
'Rust' Armorer's Legal Team Claims Statements About Alleged Drug Use Were Made To 'Influence' Potential Jurors
Last month, her attorney Jason Bowles slammed the special prosecutors, claiming that they have “unleashed a repeated deluge of very prejudicial statements” about Hannah Gutierrez-Reed “designed to influence potential jurors to her guilt.” They say statements alleging that she might have been hungover on set were “recklessly thrown out as unsupported rumors and innuendo.
In the court documents, Bowles writes, “The State asks this Court to strike the supplemental filing by Ms. Gutierrez Reed, as untimely, but it could not have been filed before the state’s most recent statements. The State wants free rein to recklessly taint the jury pool, but not allow Ms. Gutierrez Reed to respond in a timely fashion to those statements with motion practice.”
Hannah Gutierrez-Reed Only Worked As An Armorer On One Other Film
During an interview on the “Voices of the West” podcast, the rookie armorer admitted that she had only worked as an armorer once before, on the set of “The Old Way,” starring Nicolas Cage.
“It was a really bada** way to start off a really long and cool career,” she said at the time. “It was also my first time being head armorer as well. I almost didn’t take the job because I wasn’t sure if I was ready. But doing it, like, it went really smoothly.”
However, Stu Brumbaugh, who worked as a key grip on “The Old Way,” told The Wrap that her behavior on set caused Nicolas Cage to scream at her after she fired a gun near the cast and crew for the second time in three days without warning.
