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An important development has occurred in the Hannah Gutierrez-Reed case after a judge dismissed the charges of involuntary manslaughter against actor Alec Balwin on July 12, 2024. Hannah's family and lawyers are now calling for the charges against the Rust armorer to be dropped, arguing that the case against Baldwin has been put to rest.
The legal charges stemmed from a tragic mishap while filming the movie Rust. Hannah Gutierrez-Reed was an armorer and set weapons handler for the film. She accidentally filled a prop gun with live ammunition instead of dummy rounds. Alec Balwin fired the weapon during one of the rehearsals, resulting in the death of cinematographer Halnya Hutchins.
On April 15, 2024, Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer sentenced Hannah to 18 months in prison and declared her guilty of the offense. However, the same judge has now dismissed the charge against Alec Baldwin.
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What did Hannah Gutierrez-Reed do? Case background explored
The ongoing legal battle dates back to a mishap in 2021, where cinematographer Halnya Hutchins was shot and killed on the sets of the film Rust. As per the facts presented to the court, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed accidentally loaded the gun with live bullets instead of fake ones, leading to Hutchins' death.
Hannah's defense claims she was unaware that the box of fake bullets had been mixed with real bullets used for filming. The gun was handed to Alec Baldwin during a rehearsal take, and it went off, shooting Halnya. Baldwin maintains that he handled the gun but did not press the trigger.
In April 2024, Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer found Hannah Gutierrez-Reed guilty of involuntary manslaughter. However, she was acquitted of the second charge against her, tampering with evidence (the gun used). As reported by Fox 59, the judge pointed out Hannah's lack of care and negligence in handling props on set during the hearing. She said:
"You alone turned a safe weapon into a lethal weapon. But for you, Ms Hutchins would be alive. A husband would have his partner and a little boy would have his mother."
What is the legal move after Alec Baldwin's acquittal?
The legal team representing Hannah Gutierrez-Reed is prepared to file a motion to dismiss the charges against her, following the dismissal of Alec Baldwin's case. Hannah's team has previously stated that Baldwin went off-script by pointing the weapon at a crew member, which contributed to the incident.
However, the charges against the actor were dismissed on July 12, 2024, when his defense team proved that the prosecution had withheld evidence in the case. The evidence was a box of bullets dropped off at a sheriff's office in March that could have been traced back to the killing. After the end of the trial, Alec Baldwin was seen having an emotional reaction to its outcome.
In a statement to Daily Mail, Hannah's father, Thell Reed, spoke about how his daughter was being made a scapegoat for the incident. He said:
"I think Hannah’s case should also be dismissed. There’s a lot of evidence that hasn’t been heard at all. They suppressed all the important evidence and I guess [Baldwin’s] attorneys brought it out."
Currently, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed is serving an 18-month sentence in prison for involuntary manslaughter. She is currently behind bars at the Santa Fe County Adult Detention Facility.
