Hannah Gutierrez-Reed Seeks New Trial, Cites Cover-Up and Misconduct in Baldwin Case

Hannah Gutierrez-Reed watches closing arguments in her manslaughter trial on Wednesday, March 6, 2024, in Santa Fe, New Mexico (via Law&Crime). Inset: Alec Baldwin holds a gun on the set of the movie “Rust” (Santa Fe Sheriff’s Office).

Attorneys for “Rust” armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, 26, have filed a motion alleging prosecutorial misconduct based on evidence uncovered during Alec Baldwin’s recent trial.

Last Friday, Baldwin’s manslaughter case was dismissed with prejudice following revelations that the state had withheld crucial ammunition evidence from his defense team.

Gutierrez-Reed’s legal team argues that this “egregious prosecutorial misconduct” by special prosecutor Kari Morrissey warrants Gutierrez-Reed’s immediate release, a new trial, or even a dismissal.

The matter at the center of this controversy involves the mystery of some ammunition that a “good Samaritan” handed over to the police, supposedly to discredit Gutierrez-Reed and get her fired. This ammunition seemed similar to the bullet that tragically killed Halyna Hutchins.

Last Thursday, during a highly effective cross-examination led by defense attorney Alex Spiro, it was revealed that former Arizona police officer Troy Teske supplied the ammunition in question.

On July 12, in a surprising turn of events, special prosecutor Morrissey called herself to testify during a hearing over a defense motion to dismiss. Her aim was to counter allegations that the state had intentionally withheld the contentious ammunition. But her testimony failed to convince the court.

The state insisted that the ammunition was not collected during the “Rust” investigation and was therefore irrelevant. The defense countered that this determination was not one law enforcement could make and, regardless, should have been disclosed prior to the trial.

First Judicial District Court Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer sided with the defense, asserting that the state deliberately tried to prejudice Baldwin.

The July 12 hearing was filled with revelations and conflicting testimonies from law enforcement about the decision to keep the Teske ammunition secret, including why it was filed under a different case number.

In a 35-page motion for a new trial, Gutierrez-Reed accuses Morrissey of repeatedly lying to the court about the ammunition. According to the motion, lead detective Corporal Alexandria Hancock testified that Morrissey was involved in the decision to file the Teske rounds separately. However, Morrissey claimed she had no knowledge of this separate filing.

The motion also alleges that Morrissey lied regarding reasons for fellow prosecutor Erlinda Johnson quitting mid-hearing and about the departure circumstances of her former paralegal.

Additionally, the motion states that Morrissey falsely represented that Gutierrez-Reed’s counsel didn’t want the Teske rounds because they supposedly incriminated her. This claim, the motion argues, is completely false.

Testimony in Baldwin’s case was unclear about the timeline of when Teske delivered the rounds to law enforcement relative to Gutierrez-Reed’s trial. Some testimonies suggested the rounds were delivered after the trial, while others indicated they were received before.

The new trial motion clarifies that while Gutierrez-Reed’s attorneys were aware of some rounds, they had allegedly been told by Morrissey to disregard them because Morrissey found them visually dissimilar to the rounds that killed Hutchins on October 21, 2021.

The heart of Baldwin’s defense rested on the argument that the decision to withhold mentioning the rounds by law enforcement was a severe discovery violation, bordering on intentional cover-up.

For Gutierrez-Reed, the allegations are even more severe. In January 2024, Morrissey allegedly told Gutierrez-Reed’s counsel that the rounds wouldn’t be tested by the FBI due to their appearance. Yet, during the July 12 hearing, Morrissey claimed she had never seen the rounds until that day, contradicting her earlier statements.

The motion suggests that Morrissey intentionally concealed the Teske evidence from Baldwin. According to the motion, Hancock testified that Morrissey was involved in the decision to place the rounds in a separate case file, implying an active effort to hide the evidence.

On March 6, 2024, Teske personally delivered the rounds to the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office, the same day Gutierrez-Reed was convicted of involuntary manslaughter.

The defense argues that the repeated discovery failures were unfair and unconstitutional. As a result, Gutierrez-Reed remains in state prison, serving an 18-month sentence based on what the defense now claims was an unjust proceeding. The motion contends that such behavior by the state should not be tolerated.

Source: Law & Crime