‘Rust’ Prosecutors Want Jailed Armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed To Testify Against Alec Baldwin

“Rust” prosecutors are attempting to compel Hannah Gutierrez-Reed to testify against Alec Baldwin during his trial in July.

Both the rookie armorer and the “30 Rock” actor had been charged with involuntary manslaughter in connection with the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins. Earlier this year, it took a jury less than three hours to find the armorer guilty. The judge sentenced her to the state maximum of 18 months behind bars.

However, now that she is in state custody, “Rust” prosecutors want a judge to force armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed into testifying against Alec Baldwin.

According to court documents obtained by The Blast, on June 3, prosecutors for the state of New Mexico filed a motion to compel “Rust” armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed to testify against Alec Baldwin during his trial in July.

Special prosecutors Kari T. Morrissey and Erlinda O. Johnson noted that Hannah Gutierrez-Reed is listed on Baldwin’s witness list, and on the state’s witness list by proxy, as the State has served the right to call all witnesses named by the defendant’s legal team.

During her pretrial interview on May 14, 2024, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed asserted her Fifth Amendment privilege to all substantive questions. According to this latest filing from the prosecution, “Presumably Defendant Baldwin named Ms. Gutierrez as a witness so his counsel can obtain potentially exculpatory information from Ms. Gutierrez that is relevant to the issue of proximate cause.”

The filing goes on to say, “If Ms. Gutierrez is not compelled to testify by the Court, […] the State would be unable to cross-examine Ms. Gutierrez about her statements and the State would also be unable to present testimony from Ms. Gutierrez that is inculpatory to Defendant Baldwin.”

“Upon information and belief,” the prosecution believes that “Ms. Gutierrez would testify that Mr. Baldwin was inattentive during the firearms training session she conducted with him, Mr. Baldwin indicated an apparent willingness to participate in additional training the following day with his holster but failed to do so.”

The documents go on to say that “Ms. Gutierrez would testify to what her firearms training with Mr. Baldwin consisted of, she would testify that Mr. Baldwin was a producer and had the freedom to do whatever he wanted and the other producers ‘had to reel him in all the time.’”

“Mr. Baldwin would become upset and have emotional fits, Mr. Baldwin was not supposed to be cocking the gun or pulling the trigger during the rehearsal when the gun went off, Mr. Baldwin would frequently rush her when she was loading/unloading weapons and that there were two other actors on the set of Rust that regularly conducted their own safety checks of their guns,” the filing goes on to say.

“Ms. Gutierrez would also likely testify that actors are not supposed to point their guns at crew members and that she offered Mr. Baldwin an inert gun to rehearse with just before the shooting of Ms. Hutchins but either Baldwin and/or Halls demanded the real gun be provided,” the document continues, referring to first assistant director David Halls. Halls pled guilty to a charge of negligent use of a firearm and was sentenced to six months of probation.

Lead prosecutor Kari Morrissey goes on to state that the State of New Mexico is not offering the armorer any benefit for her testimony against Mr. Baldwin. “The grant of use immunity would only protect Ms. Gutierrez from her statements during the Baldwin trial being used against her should her appeal be successful, and the State would be unable to use any of her statements to pursue other future charges against Ms. Gutierrez based on her testimony,” Morrissey wrote.

Although defense counsel Sara Clark opposed the motion, Morrissey claims that “The defendant’s opposition to this motion is a clear indicator that the defendant intends that only exculpatory testimony from Ms. Gutierrez be presented to the jury and that the exculpatory testimony take place in a vacuum. The jury should hear all relevant testimony from Ms. Gutierrez.”

Alec Baldwin's trial is scheduled to begin on July 9, 2024. If he is found guilty, he faces up to 18 months behind bars and approximately $5,000 in fines.