‘Rust’ Armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed Loses Bid To Get Involuntary Manslaughter Case Tossed As Trial Looms

Dominic Patten
·3 min read
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A week before Hannah Gutierrez-Reed is set to go to trial for the fatal 2021 shooting of Rust cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, the movie’s former armorer has failed in her latest effort to have the case dismissed.

“I find that the communications are not materially prejudicial to the defendant,” New Mexico Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer ruled in swatting away the defense’s motion that Gutierrez-Reed’s case has been polluted, citing the sharing of a detailed report full of private correspondence by the armorer with a state witness. “I’m denying the motion.”

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Gutierrez-Reed’s trial is set to start February 21 in Santa Fe, NM.

Although Rust star-producer Alec Baldwin was re-charged with manslaughter claims by a New Mexico grand jury January 19, a year to the day he was originally charged over Hutchins’ death on the Bonanza Creek Ranch set, no trial date has been scheduled in his case. Baldwin entered a not guilty plea January 31. There is a virtual status hearing on his case on the court docket for February 20.

Having pleaded not guilty to charges of involuntary manslaughter and tampering with evidence, Gutierrez-Reed faces up to three years behind bars if convicted.

Hutchins was killed when a 1880s prop gun held by Baldwin shot her at point-blank range while rehearsing a scene on October 21, 2021. In charge of firearms on the set of the indie Western, Gutierrez-Reed handed the gun containing live rounds to assistant director David Halls. Halls declared the gun “clear” and gave it to Baldwin. Minutes later, as the rehearsal was underway, Hutchins and director Joel Souza were both shot. Hutchins died not long afterwards. Souza recovered.

How live rounds got on the set of Rust remains a mystery more than two years after the shooting.

However, special prosecutors Kerri Morrisey and Jason Lewis have indicated quite heavily they believe Gutierrez-Reed knows more than she is saying. First charged with manslaughter in early 2023, the inexperienced armorer saw evidence tampering charges added when she refused to provide more information about the live rounds. Unlike the initial stumbling probe into the shooting, the special prosecutors appointed last year have dug deep into alleged drug use by Gutierrez-Reed as a possible explanation for at least the oversight of the fatal live rounds getting on the Rust set.

In a hearing Wednesday, Judge Sommer also rejected defense lawyer Jason Bowles’ attempt to bring a seasoned industry armorer on board as a witness at the eleventh hour. In a virtual hearing, Morrisey called the request to allow the new witness or to push the trial back “absolutely outrageous.” The judge agreed, and also agreed that the prosecution can speak before the jury in a somewhat limited fashion on Gutierrez-Reed’s alleged indulgence in cocaine and other narcotics, as well as her heavy drinking on the troubled set.

Bowles did not respond to a request for comment on the results of Wednesday’s hearing, though it was evident he was not happy with the outcome and is considering further filings on the matters.

While the issues of Hutchins’ death remain unresolved, Rust the film is done.

With Baldwin and Souza back in their respective hyphenated positions, the movie was resurrected in April of last year with production moved to the Yellowstone Film Ranch in Montana. Hutchins’ widower Matthew dropped a wrongful-death suit against Baldwin and the film’s producers and became a producer himself on Rust 2.0 as well as on a documentary about his wife. Gutierrez-Reed was not invited to rejoin the film.

Baldwin is looking at a maximum of 18 months behind bars and around $5,000 in fines if found guilty of the involuntary manslaughter charge. The Emmy-winning actor is also facing a number of Rust civil cases in both California and New Mexico.

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