SANTA FE, N.M. — The trial and conviction of Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, the armorer on the “Rust” movie set, for involuntary manslaughter in the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins has set the stage for the highly anticipated legal proceedings of Alec Baldwin, who negligently fired the fatal round.
Gutierrez-Reed, 26, was found guilty by a New Mexico jury after less than three hours of deliberations on Wednesday for the fatal shooting of Hutchins, 42, on the set of the Western movie on October 21, 2021, the Associated Press reported.
After Gutierrez-Reed’s verdict was read, Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer ordered the armorer be taken into custody, where she will remain until she is sentenced. She faces up to 18 months of incarceration in addition to a $5,000 fine.
During the trial, which began Feb. 21, prosecutors presented weapons experts, FBI and Santa Fe County authorities as well as film crew members who witnessed the fatal shooting that occurred when Baldwin drew the weapon from its holster and fired a live round, fatally striking Hutchins who was in the line of fire.
The prosecution largely focused on Gutierrez-Reed’s behavior as an armorer, saying she didn’t do her job correctly.
Baldwin was the co-producer and lead actor in “Rust,” thus he figured prominently in testimony and closing arguments as an authority figure during the two week trial.
Both the prosecutors and defense attorneys in Gutierrez-Reed’s trial dissected video footage of Baldwin before the fatal shooting for indicators pointing to a lapse in firearms safety.
Baldwin’s trial is scheduled for July. His legal team received a view of what to expect since it will involve the same judge and prosecutors as well as many of the same witnesses, according to the AP.
Baldwin has insisted that he pulled back the gun’s hammer, but not the trigger, and the weapon fired, killing Hutchins and wounding director Joel Souza.
However, independent forensic firearm experts, Lucien Haag and Mike Haag, were commissioned by the prosecution, and concluded that Baldwin had to pull the trigger of the weapon in order for it to fire.
“With this guilty verdict, Alec Baldwin is probably getting nervous,” Miguel Custodio, co-founder of Custodio and Dubey LLP, told Fox News Digital. “He can see that the consequences of what happened are becoming real.”
Kate Mangels, partner at Kinsella Holley Iser Kump Steinsapir LLP, told Fox News, “Interestingly, it was Gutierrez-Reed who presented the most evidence as to Baldwin’s culpability. Her attorneys presented Baldwin as failing in his role as part of the ‘Rust’ production team and as an actor.”
“This strategy could be used by the prosecution in Baldwin’s case to increase the chances that a jury finds him culpable in one of those roles,” Mangels said. “The prosecution’s case against Baldwin will depend largely on whether the crew witnesses who testified against Gutierrez-Reed testify similarly against Baldwin.”
