‘Rust’ Armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed’s Family Wants Her Case Dismissed After Alec Baldwin's Trial

"Rust" armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed and her family want her case to be revisited. The news comes only a few hours after Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer, who sentenced the rookie armorer to 18 months behind bars, decided to dismiss the state's case against actor Alec Baldwin.

Both were charged with involuntary manslaughter in connection with the October 2021 death of "Rust" cinematographer Halyna Hutchins. However, on Thursday night, Baldwin's legal team filed a motion to dismiss the case, citing buried evidence that was known to both law enforcement and the prosecution.

Special prosecutor Erlinda Johnson resigned in light of the news, and Judge Sommer concurred that the prosecution had indeed committed a Brady violation. However, whether it's enough to also get Hannah Gutierrez-Reed's case revisited remains to be seen.

On Friday night, Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer decided that the prosecutors representing the State of New Mexico committed a Brady violation by suppressing evidence that could have been favorable to Alec Baldwin and his case.

Now that Baldwin's case has been dismissed, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed's famous father, veteran armorer Thell Reed, wants his daughter released from prison. He maintains that his daughter was nothing more than a "scapegoat" when it came to the October 2021 shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.

Although the prosecution convinced the jury that the rookie armorer brought live ammunition onto a movie set, the truth is that it has never been established exactly where the ammunition came from. Some believe that the live ammunition came from Seth Kenney, who supplied the props for the film out of his warehouse in Albuquerque.

On Friday night, Thell Reed, 81, told the Daily Mail that the judge granting Baldwin's motion to dismiss was "good" and felt that "Hannah's case should also be dismissed."

"There’s a lot of evidence that hasn’t been heard at all," he alleged. "They [the prosecution] suppressed all the important evidence and I guess [Baldwin’s] attorneys brought it out."

The 27-year-old armorer was sentenced to the state maximum of 18 months behind bars after it took a jury less than three hours to find her guilty of involuntary manslaughter. She was, however, acquitted of a lesser charge of tampering with evidence. She is currently serving her sentence at the Santa Fe County Adult Detention Facility and was actually expected to testify on Friday before the jury was dismissed in light of the suppressed evidence.

The case against Alec Baldwin was dismissed with prejudice, which means that he cannot face criminal charges again. Now that his "Rust" trial has been dismissed, Thell Reed is hoping that Hannah Gutierrez-Reed will be granted a swift appeal.

"It should [be grounds for an appeal]. She didn't do anything wrong. They’ve absolutely made her a scapegoat," Thell Reed said of the prosecutors.

On October 21, 2021, Alec Baldwin was rehearsing for a scene in a church at the Bonanza Creek Ranch just outside Santa Fe, New Mexico, when a gun that he was holding went off. The "projectile" - which later turned out to be a real bullet - fatally wounded Halyna Hutchins and hospitalized director Joel Souza, who later made a full recovery.

Baldwin claimed that he did not pull the trigger and did not know how a live round ended up in the gun he was holding. A live round was later found in the bandolier of a costume worn by "Supernatural" actor Jensen Ackles when authorities conducted their investigation.

First assistant director David Halls was the one who checked the gun after Hannah Gutierrez-Reed loaded it. He was also the one who handed the gun to Alec Baldwin and declared it a "cold" gun, meaning a gun that did not contain live ammunition. He pled guilty to a misdemeanor charge of the negligent use of a deadly weapon. He served six months of unsupervised probation, paid a $500 fine, and completed 24 hours of community service.

On Friday, after the suppressed evidence was brought to light, special prosecutor Erlinda Johnson decided to resign during Friday’s hearing. In a brief statement, she told TMZ that she felt that the best decision was to dismiss the case in order to uphold the integrity of the justice system.

“As prosecutors, we have obligations to disclose all the evidence. When I learned this morning of the existence of the evidence that had not been disclosed, I believed that the right decision was to dismiss the case,” she said. “When my voice was not heard, I asked to withdraw from the case. We not only owe a duty to the people, but to the defendants accused of crimes as well. The prosecution must always be above reproach.”