Judge Rules 'Rust' Armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed Will Not Get A New Trial

"Rust" armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed is currently serving 18 months behind bars after being found guilty of involuntary manslaughter in connection with the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of the Western film in October 2021.

The 27-year-old armorer and actor Alec Baldwin had both been facing involuntary manslaughter charges; however, the charges against the 66-year-old actor were dismissed with prejudice after the judge determined that the prosecution had committed misconduct by not turning important information over to the defense.

Hannah Gutierrez-Reed's legal team, who had been fighting for an appeal, quickly changed tactics and tried to get her guilty conviction thrown out and a new trial in its place, alleging that the same misconduct that occurred in Baldwin's trial also occurred in theirs.

In late July, the Santa Fe New Mexican reported that the New Mexico Court of Appeals had decided to grant a motion allowing the First Judicial District Court to rule on her request for a new trial, which concluded with a hearing held on Thursday, September 26. Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer decided to break down the defense's request into two separate motions. The first motion was whether or not to dismiss her current conviction and grant her a new trial. The second was whether or not to release Hannah Gutierrez-Reed from prison.

“Defendant has not established that there is a reasonable probability that, had the evidence been available to Defendant, the evidence would have produced a different verdict,” said Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer in a ruling posted on Monday morning, as per Deadline. Judge Sommer shut down the possibility that she would get a new trial and also determined that she would continue to serve the remainder of her 18-month prison sentence.

Veteran Hollywood armorer Thell Reed, 81, is anxious to see Hannah Gutierrez-Reed released from prison. Thell told the Daily Mailthat it was a “good” thing that Alec Baldwin’s trial was dismissed, but now he feels that “Hannah’s case should also be dismissed” because of misconduct involving the evidence. "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."

"It should [be grounds for an appeal]. She didn't do anything wrong. They’ve absolutely made her a scapegoat," he added, noting that "There's a lot of evidence that hasn't been heard at all." He alleged that the prosecution "suppressed all the important evidence" that came out during Baldwin's trial a few months later.

Hannah Gutierrez-Reed's trial took place from February to March. Alec Baldwin's trial wasn't held until July. On the second day of the trial, a crime scene technician testified that there was evidence turned in after Hannah Gutierrez-Reed's trial that did not get turned over to Baldwin's defense team.

Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer, who presided over both trials, determined that this was a violation of the Brady rule and saw no other remedy than to dismiss Baldwin's case with prejudice. This means that Baldwin will not be facing any criminal consequences for the death of Halyna Hutchins. However, he is still facing several "Rust" civil lawsuits along with other producers.

The decision was made after special prosecutor Kari Morrissey, who was involved in both trials, admitted that she was involved in conversations with law enforcement when they decided to put the new evidence under a different case number, therefore separating it from the rest of the "Rust" evidence. Baldwin's defense team was unaware of this new evidence until the crime scene technician's testimony on the second day of the trial.

Special prosecutor Erlinda Johnson, who was not involved in Hannah Gutierrez-Reed's trial, made the decision to resign from the trial on the third day of the trial. That afternoon, the judge dismissed the case with prejudice. Johnson explained on Chris Cuomo's NewsNationthat the decision to withdraw from the case was a matter of ethics.

"We have an obligation as prosecutors, we have an obligation not only to the people, but to the defendant and our obligation is to make sure that all the evidence is turned over," she explained in the hours following her resignation. "We don't get to decide what the defense is going to be. Our job is to ensure transparency and to ensure that the defendant has everything that the prosecution has gathered. What they do with it, that's up to them.”