'Rust' Armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed Sentenced To 18 Months In Connection With Halyna Hutchins' Death

The criminal trial for "Rust" armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter in less than three hours. The two-week trial took place between February and March after being postponed from December.

The armorer on the set of the Western film had been charged with two counts of involuntary manslaughter in connection with the death of "Rust" cinematographer Halyna Hutchins. She had also been facing an additional charge of tampering with evidence after special prosecutors alleged that they found a witness who told them that she "transferred" cocaine to another individual on the day Hutchins was killed, thus impeding the police investigation.

However, she was acquitted on that charge, as the substance was never tested, or identified to be cocaine.

On Monday, April 15, Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer took Hannah Gutierrez-Reed to task, noting that she did not seem remorseful and "did not take accountability" for her role in the death of Halyna Hutchins.

As such, Sommer sentenced Hannah Gutierrez-Reed to 18 months of incarceration at a New Mexico Women's Correction facility, noting that what she did constitutes a "physically violent offense" that was done in a "physically violent manner." She went on to say that her "recklessness" resulted in "serious harm" and that she turned a "safe weapon into a lethal weapon" in her role as armorer.

On October 21, 2021, a gun held by actor Alec Baldwin went off, killing Halyna Hutchins and hospitalizing director Joel Souza. The "30 Rock" actor and Hannah Gutierrez-Reed both faced two counts of involuntary manslaughter in connection with Hutchins' death; however, the charges against the 65-year-old actor were dropped pending further investigation. Those charges were refiled in January 2024, one year after the initial charges were filed. He entered a not guilty plea on January 31.

Before the trial even started, her attorney, Jason Bowles, expressed concern that allegations of her drug use would taint a potential jury pool. "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," her attorney, Jason Bowles, wrote in one court document from last July.

He goes on to state that “the idea that a fair trial is possible in this case is a complete farce at this point," adding that the drinking, using, and now drug tampering allegations have now all made their way through the national media multiple times and it’s "impossible to run a Google search on her name and not get pages and pages of stories on those unsupported allegations.”

Her legal team went on to slam prosecutors in July 2023, months before the trial began, claiming that they “unleashed a repeated deluge of very prejudicial statements” against Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, which they allege were “designed to influence potential jurors as to her guilt.”

In court documents obtained by The Blast at that time, they claim that rumors that she was "hungover" on set were “recklessly thrown out as unsupported rumors and innuendo.” Her legal team condemned these “completely unsupported statements” and noted that the state had yet to identify a witness “to substantiate its reckless claims.”

“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," Bowles wrote in the legal filing. "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.”

In January 2024, according to court documents obtained by The Blast, her legal team asked the court to add a question asking potential jurors if they had seen or read any media coverage about the case in order to weed out any potential jurors that might have been influenced by the press.

“As this Court is aware, this case has generated intense publicity over the past year and a half,” the filing states, adding, “There have been numerous statements made in the press regarding Ms. Gutierrez-Reed. The likelihood is that some or most jurors will have heard or read something in the press.”

The legal team asked the court to “allow a general question regarding anyone hearing or reading about this case or Ms. Gutierrez Reed in the press and a show of hands” so as “to not taint the panel.”

“What counsel is trying to avoid is the panel being prejudiced by jurors saying what they have heard in front of other panel members,” her legal team wrote in the filing. “This is important to ensure a fair and impartial jury for Ms. Gutierrez Reed.” The counsel for the state did not oppose the motion.