Imprisoned ‘Rust’ Armorer Requests Release After Alec Baldwin Dismissal

Hannah Gutierrez, the armorer detained for the 2021 “Rust” shooting, on Tuesday filed a motion for her conviction to be dismissed. This came after charges against actor Alec Baldwin were dropped due to prosecutors withholding evidence linked to the 2021 incident.

A lawyer representing Gutierrez argued that the concealed evidence of live rounds, among other important information kept from the defense, provided a basis for dismissal or at least a new trial.

If successful, Gutierrez’s motion could completely undo New Mexico’s criminal prosecution of the rookie weapons handler and Baldwin for the accidental death of “Rust” cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.

The motion followed the dismissal of charges against Baldwin during his trial. A judge ruled that prosecutors had intentionally hidden the presence of live rounds handed to the police, which could potentially identify the source of the lethal round that ended Hutchins’ life.

Halyna Hutchins, a Ukrainian director of photography, lost her life when Baldwin’s gun fired a live round inadvertently loaded by Gutierrez. This occurred as the actor was setting up a camera shot in a church on the movie set located southwest of Santa Fe, New Mexico.

In Gutierrez’s motion to dismiss, her attorney Jason Bowles revealed that in January, he reached out to state prosecutor Kari Morrissey, requesting the FBI to test the live rounds eventually handed to the police on March 6, the same day Gutierrez was convicted.

Bowles reported that Morrissey responded by saying she did not intend to retrieve or test the rounds, as their appearance differed from six live rounds found on the “Rust” set.

Intriguingly, three of the rounds handed in by Troy Teske, a friend of Gutierrez’s stepfather Thell Reed, resembled the live rounds discovered on the “Rust” set.

Bowles also pointed out other instances where the prosecution failed to disclose evidence to the defense, such as an interview with “Rust” props supplier Seth Kenney and a supplemental report on Baldwin’s gun by firearms expert Lucien Haag.

Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer is now expected to schedule a hearing on Gutierrez’s motion to dismiss.

Source: Reuters