‘Rust’ Armorer Trial Opening Statements: “Unprofessional & Sloppy” Conduct Vs. “Scapegoat” – Update

Dominic Patten
·7 min read
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UPDATED, 10:48 AM: Hannah Gutierrez-Reed is a “scapegoat” for the 2021 on-set killing of Rust cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, the accused armorer’s defense lawyer told a Santa Fe jury today.

“Just because there was a tragedy doesn’t mean a crime was committed,” Jason Bowles added to the five women and seven men sitting in judgment of his client for the fatality on the indie western starring and produced by Alec Baldwin. “It does not mean that Hannah Gutierrez-Reed caused the crimes they have charged her with.”

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“They are trying to blame it all on Hannah,” Bowles said of prosecutors and Rust producers in Gutierrez-Reed’s involuntary manslaughter trial. “Why? Because she is an easy target … the least powerful person on that set.”

Charged with involuntary manslaughter and evidence tampering, Gutierrez-Reed could go to state prison for up to three years if found guilty. Recharged last month, Baldwin is set to go on trial himself in the summer on involuntary manslaughter charges. The actor could get 18 months behind bars if found guilty. Entering a not guilty plea the first time he was charged and more recently, Baldwin always has insisted that he did not pull the trigger on the prop gun he was pointing at Hutchins in rehearsal that terrible day, Forensic examiners at the FBI and otherwise have issued reports that profoundly disagree.

RELATED: Alec Baldwin Pleads Not Guilty To Renewed ‘Rust’ Involuntary Manslaughter Charges; Restrictions Placed On Actor’s Movements & Meetings

Citing OSHA reports that laid responsibly with the production, crew members leaving Rust because of safety and financial concerns the day of the shooting, the role of assistant director David Halls, evidence tampering, mismanagement and the potential pivotal role of ammunition supplier Seth Kenney, Bowles bluntly said that Baldwin and the film’s other producers overlooked safety and other concerns for profit. “Get this done, so we can get the money,” the defense lawyer declared was the mantra on the movie.

“You’re going hear again Mr. Baldwin — one of the lead producers, head actor in the movie, who really controlled the set — you’re going to hear that he violated some of the most basic gun-safety rules you can ever learn,” Bowles asserted of the multiple Emmy winner. “From a young age, we all learn you don’t point a gun at somebody ever unless you want to shoot them. You treat all guns as loaded, and you keep your finger out of the trigger until you’re ready to shoot. He violated all those.

“It wasn’t Ms. Gutierrez-Reed, it was Mr., Baldwin.”

With a composed Gutierrez-Reed looking on from the defense table at the front of Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer, the state has called its first witness, Former Santa Fe Sheriff’s Deputy Nicolas LeFleur, who now is with the Santa Fe Police, was one of initial first responders to arrive at the Bonanza Creek Ranch set after the shooting of Hutchins and Rust director Joel Souza. Unfortunately, some technical difficulties delayed his testimony, and the trial has now broken for lunch.

PREVIOUSLY, 9:46 AM: “Ms. Gutierrez was negligent on the set,” prosecutors bluntly told a Santa Fe jury today on the opening day of the trial of Rust armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed for the fatal on-set shooting of  cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on October 21, 2021.

“We intend to call several witnesses to give testimony that she regularly failed to properly carry out her duties as an armorer,” special prosecutor Jason Lewis went on say as the defendant sat nearby. “These witnesses are going to describe the defendants conduct was unprofessional and sloppy.”

He augmented his opening statement by showing the courtroom a photo of the long-barrel Colt gun that shot Hutchins, video of star Alec Baldwin practicing drawing his gun on-set and boxed live round-gun cartridges. “You will hear testimony that [Gutierrez-Reed] routinely left guns and ammunition lying around the set unattended and that her gun safe and ammo cart were constantly disorganized.”

With a trial for Rust star-producer Baldwin likely to begin this summer, Gutierrez-Reed is looking at up to three years behind bars if found guilty in the killing of Hutchins. The former armorer’s trial is expected to last until around March 8 – though Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer initially said “May 8” in her opening remarks to the jury Thursday.

Everything started a little later than planned due to a juror being “stuck in an accident,” according to Judge Sommer this morning. Consequently, the first real day of the trial didn’t see the jury come in around 8:30 a.m. PT, almost an hour later than scheduled. Sitting right at the front of the partially full Santa Fe County courtroom, a clearly nervous-looking Gutierrez-Reed stared straight ahead as the judge read out instructions of charges that she “did cause the death of Halyna Hutchins” and the specific involuntary manslaughter and evidence tampering claims against her.

A jury of 12 with four alternates were picked for the trial in State v. Hannah Gutierrez after an all-day session Wednesday. Of the dozen New Mexico jurors, five are female and seven are male. All the alternates are men.

Defense lawyer Jason Bowles is set to give his opening statement in the next few minutes as the jury reenters the courtroom after a short break.

First charged back in January 2023, the now 27-year-old Gutierrez-Reed has entered a plea of not guilty in the case. Her attorney Bowles refused a deal offered by special prosecutors Lewis and Kerri Morrissey late last year that would have averted the criminal negligence trial. That semi-secret deal was contingent on Gutierrez-Reed providing more information on how live rounds got on the set of the Indie Western.

Allegations of hard drug use and heavy drinking suddenly were leveled against Gutierrez-Reed when she declined the prosecution deal. Evidence-tampering charges added not long afterward when she refused to provide more information about the live rounds. The daughter of famed Hollywood armorer Thell Reed, who will be called as a witness in the trial, Gutierrez-Reed had only performed duties as an armorer herself on one other film before Rust.

In clear contrast to the initial fumbled investigation by the Santa Fe Sheriff’s office and the local DA into what happened on the troubled Rust, the special prosecutors appointed last year have taken a more systematic approach to their case. As a part of that, Lewis and Morrissey have spotlighted the alleged drug use by Gutierrez-Reed as a possible explanation for how those fatal live rounds got on the Rust set and into the 1880s gun that ended up in Baldwin’s hands that day in October 2021.

Showing another series of photos of cartridges and Gutierrez-Reed on-set, Lewis told the judge, jury and court that we have “a little bit more evidence that these live rounds came on to the set via the defendant when she came to New Mexico from out of state.” In fact, Lewis today said that the mixing up of the live rounds with the fake bullets happened in part because of a box of live rounds thatGutierrez-Reed had in her personal possession during the filming of Rust.

Alleged scene tampering in various hearings over the past year and a “sabotage” theory, the defense has said that Seth Kenney of PDQ Arm & Props was ammunition supplier for the film and it was through him that those live rounds reached the Rust set. Having cooperated with authorities since the 2021 tragedy, Kenney has denied those claims as have prosecutors.

Alec Baldwin reaction charges dropped
Alec Baldwin on ‘Rust’ set

Having entered a not guilty plea of his own recently, Alec Baldwin faces at a maximum of 18 months behind bars and around $5,000 in fines if found guilty of his involuntary manslaughter charge. The Emmy winning actor was recharged last month after a Grand Jury indictment. Baldwin, who insists he never pulled the trigger on the gun that killed Hutchins, is also facing a number of Rust civil cases in both California and New Mexico.

As all these suits are ongoing, Rust was resurrected last year and completed with further filming in Montana. Souza was back as director, and Baldwin as star and producer. Gutierrez-Reed was not asked to return to the production. Out at to market at various festivals and conferences, the finished Rust is currently looking for a buyer.

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