RUST Armorer’s Request to Drop Manslaughter Charges Denied

Published: August 4, 2023

RUST Armorer’s Request to Drop Manslaughter Charges Denied

By Movieguide® Contributor

A Santa Fe judge has denied RUST armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed’s request to have the charges against her dismissed.

Gutierrez-Reed was charged with two counts of second-degree involuntary manslaughter after the 2021 on-set shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.

Gutierrez-Reed’s attorneys claimed that comments from the state about the armorer allegedly hiding cocaine from investigators and potentially being “hungover” on the day of the shooting could taint a jury.

“This is at the preliminary stage,” New Mexico District Court Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer said of the defense’s claims. “For you to say you’ve basically tainted a jury — we’re not even there yet.”

Marlowe Sommer told attorneys on both sides to “stay the course” as the process continues.

RUST star and producer Alec Baldwin was also charged in January, as he was the one holding the gun when it discharged, but Variety reported that those charges have been dropped “after learning that the gun may not have been functioning properly at the time of the shooting.”

ABC reported that a motion filed to protect the identity of a witness who claimed the armorer “transferred a small bag of cocaine” to them following her interview with police on the day of the shooting has been withdrawn.

Gutierrez-Reed’s next hearing takes place August 9.

Movieguide® previously reported on the RUST shooting:

While rehearsing for the upcoming Western RUST on location in New Mexico, actor Alec Baldwin discharged a gun, killing cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and injuring the film’s director, Joel Souza.

Hutchins was rushed to a hospital by helicopter and was soon pronounced dead. Souza was taken by ambulance to a separate medical center. And in the aftermath of it all, Baldwin voices his sorrow regarding the incident as well as his sympathy to the family of the deceased.

Prosecutors have responded to Rust defendant Hannah Gutierrez-Reed’s attempt to have her involuntary manslaughter charge dropped in the 2021 shooting death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, saying the indie Western’s armorer “has a history of reckless conduct that has resulted… pic.twitter.com/zEqjOq6XbE

— Deadline Hollywood (@DEADLINE) June 14, 2023