At long last, trial to begin for 'Rust' armorer

Feb. 17—Journalists representing CBS, ABC, NBC, CNN, Fox, the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, Reuters and The Associated Press are expected to descend on the First Judicial District Courthouse this week for the jury trial of a 26-year-old woman named Hannah.

Hannah Gutierrez-Reed wasn't the star of Rust — the Western film in which cinematographer Halyna Hutchins suffered a fatal gunshot wound during a rehearsal on a movie set south of Santa Fe in 2021. That was Alec Baldwin. But as the movie's armorer and first person to stand trial in connection with the shooting following years of legal maneuvers, the spotlight is now on a young woman whose name — if not for the tragedy — might've been seen only on the film's scrolling credits.

Nearly 88 reporters representing 26 news outlets have registered to observe at least some part of Gutierrez-Reed's trial on involuntary manslaughter and tampering with evidence charges. Jury selection is scheduled to begin Wednesday at the Santa Fe County Courthouse and move to opening statements and witness testimony Thursday, according to Administrative Office of the Courts spokesman Barry Massey.

Interest in Gutierrez-Reed's case is perhaps the first taste of what's to come when Baldwin's trial begins, but it remains a massive news media event: With many big U.S. and worldwide outlets clamoring to cover the proceedings, Court TV will offer "pool" video providing footage and livestreaming on its YouTube channel for anyone to watch, Massey wrote in an email.

Court administrators have taken other steps in an attempt to manage the anticipated chaos, according to guidelines provided by Massey, including setting up a remote viewing area for Wednesday's jury selection process and a media work center where journalists can file their stories during the trial, which is expected to last 11 days.

The Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office, which provides security for the courthouse, will manage a designated area on the east side of the Steven Herrera Judicial Complex plaza, where members of the media can set up cameras to conduct interviews, which will not be allowed inside.

"There shall be no overnight camping by press on the courthouse grounds," the guidelines say.

Sheriff Adan Mendoza said Friday he will be dedicating more deputies to the courthouse during the trial in anticipation of the high level of public interest in the case.

Mendoza said his office has not been asked to provide extra security details for any of the individual participants.

The case against Gutierrez-Reed has been nearly as contentious as that against Baldwin, who faces an involuntary manslaughter charge. Prosecutors have said it appears live rounds were mistakenly intermingled with dummy rounds on set during the filming of Rust, and one ended up in an antique .45-caliber revolver wielded by Baldwin in the scene. When the weapon discharged, the bullet killed Hutchins and wounded director Joel Souza.

The actor has said he didn't pull the trigger, but a forensic firearms examiner hired by the state to evaluate the condition and functioning of the revolver involved in the fatal shooting has determined the weapon could not have fired without the trigger being pulled.

First Judicial District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies is no longer directly involved in the case after a judge ruled she could not work alongside a special prosecutor, but she told KRTC radio host Richard Eeds in a recent interview "there has never been one shred of evidence" the shooting was the result of sabotage.

The involuntary manslaughter charge Gutierrez-Reed faces gives jurors the option of finding her guilty under two different theories.

They can convict her if they determine she committed "negligent use of a deadly weapon" which is an unlawful act, or, if they decide Hutchins' death occurred while the armorer was engaged in a lawful act, performed "without due caution and circumspection."

The young armorer also is charged with tampering with evidence in connection with an allegation she passed a baggie of cocaine off to another crew member after being interviewed by deputies about the shooting.

Her defense team has argued the charge is meant to cause unfair speculation among jury members about her character and drug use.

Special prosecutor Kari Morrissey argued Wednesday the charge is relevant in part because it's evidence Gutierrez-Reed may have been impaired when handling ammunition for the film in her hotel room at night.

District Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer declined to sever the charges but limited the type and amount of evidence prosecutors could present at trial related to the allegation.

Both charges are fourth-degree felonies punishable by up to 18 months in jail and a fine of up to $5,000, meaning if Gutierrez-Reed is given the maximum sentence on both counts, she could be sentenced to up to three years in prison.

Morrissey did not respond to a message seeking comment.

Carmack-Altwies said in the radio interview one of the unique things about the case is the sheer number of witnesses — about 70 — who were on the scene when Hutchins was shot. She noted that increased the amount of work investigators had to perform.

It's also part of the reason the trial is scheduled to take so long.

The state intends to call 42 witnesses during the trial, according to its 13th amended witness list filed in December.

Potential witnesses include several sheriff's office detectives and deputies; a professional armorer; an FBI forensics examiner; a doctor from the state Office of the Medical Examiner; and several crew members and other people who worked on the production. Among them: script supervisor Mamie Mitchell and set medic Cherlyn Schaefer, who both have filed civil lawsuits seeking compensation for emotional distress they claim to have suffered.

The state also intends to call Seth Kenney, owner of the business that supplied ammunition and weapons for the film. Marlowe Sommer denied a motion from Gutierrez-Reed's defense team that argued he should be not be allowed to testify because prosecutors gave him hundreds of pages of communications between the defendant and her lawyers in response to an Inspection of Public Records Act request for Gutierrez-Reed's text messages.

The District Attorney's Office recently denied The New Mexican the same records Morrissey released to Kenney, citing the Electronic Communication Privacy Act as the basis for the withholding. Officials said the records had "inadvertently" been disclosed to Kenney.

The defense also intends to call several dozen witnesses, including a firearms expert, a private investigator and an expert on movie set safety. The witness list also includes Gutierrez-Reed's father, Thell Reed — himself an armorer and film set consultant — and Assistant Director David Halls, who pleaded no contest early on in the case to a charge of negligent use of a deadly weapon in connection with the incident.

Approximately 30 seats inside the courtroom will be available on a first-come, first-served basis for members of the public who would like to attend the trial in person.