'Rust' Armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed's Trial To Hear Closing Arguments Tomorrow

Tuesday marked the ninth day in the trial against "Rust" armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed. Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer has expressed hope that the case will go to a jury by the end of the week, but it appears that they might be getting it tomorrow.

The rookie armorer, who has only worked on two film sets, is facing two counts of involuntary manslaughter and one count of tampering with evidence in connection with the fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.

Actor Alec Baldwin, who was holding the gun, is also facing an involuntary manslaughter charge and will face his own criminal trial in July 2024.

On Monday, the prosecution wrapped its case. On Tuesday, the defense presented its first witness: compliance officer Lorenzo Montoya with OSHA, who had conducted the investigation into the workplace fatality that occurred on the set of the Western film on October 21, 2021.

The compliance officer deemed the "management team" at fault, naming prop master Sarah Zachary and several others. Hannah Gutierrez-Reed was mentioned in the report but considered her as an employee and not as management.

The New Mexico Occupational Health and Safety Bureau issued a $136,793 penalty last April, the highest allowed by law, Rust Movie Productions settled for a reduced penalty of $100,000, as reported by Variety in February 2023.

In his report, Montoya noted that Hannah Gutierrez-Reed did not have enough time to inventory and inspect all of the dummy rounds on the "Rust" set. He went on to put the blame on "Rust" producer Gabrielle Pickle for not giving the armorer enough time to perform her duties on set.

The report also noted that Hannah Gutierrez-Reed was not given authority over hosting firearm training, which was a safety violation Montoya noted in his report. The investigation also showed that Hannah Gutierrez-Reed had voiced concerns about safety on set, but they went "unheeded" by Gabrielle Pickle.

First assistant director David Halls, who previously testified in the trial, was found to be in violation of several safety points in the OSHA report. In January 2023, Halls pleaded guilty to the charge of negligent use of a firearm and faced probation for his role in the fatal shooting of Halyna Hutchins.

The Bureau Chief for New Mexico OSHA, Robert Genoway, was the next to testify. Genoway supported Montoya's findings in the "Rust" report amid accusations from prosecutors that OSHA had jumped to conclusions in regard to their findings, noting that they had not received the police investigation before making their conclusions.

After a short testimony, private investigator Scott Elliot took the stand. Although Elliot voiced concerns about the way law enforcement officials handled the investigation, he was quickly shut down by prosecutor Kari Morrissey. For example, although Elliot described how a police officer handled the firearm without gloves, Morrissey pointed out that dozens of people could have touched the gun on a film set. She went on to mention that it was no question who fired the gun, given Baldwin's admission and multiple witnesses in the church.

It seems that the defense did not have many witnesses to present, as closing arguments are expected to be heard on Wednesday. At the end of Tuesday’s testimony, Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer told the courtroom, “You can expect closing arguments to commence tomorrow morning,” adding, “Not right away — the defense is still putting on their case — but when the defense is finished, then we will do closing arguments.”

Although Judge Sommer expressed her hope to get the case to the jury by March 8, it appears that they are ahead of the anticipated schedule. It is possible that the jury could get the case on Wednesday and conclude their deliberations on Friday so they don’t have to come back after a long weekend.

Hannah Gutierrez-Reed is being charged with involuntary manslaughter and evidence tampering. She faces up to three years in state prison if found guilty. On Tuesday morning, prosecutors attempted to get the word “cocaine” changed to “suspected controlled substance” after the witness admitted that she had thrown out the evidence without confirming it was cocaine. However, Judge Sommer denied the request.

The criminal trial against Alec Baldwin is expected to start on July 9, 2024. He faces 18 months behind bars if found guilty. Judge Sommer will preside over that case as well.