'Rust' armorer makes first appearance by video

Feb. 24—Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, the armorer in the Rust film production charged with involuntary manslaughter in the October 2021 fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, made her first appearance in court virtually Friday but did not enter a plea.

She is the only one of the three defendants charged in connection with Hutchins' death — which occurred during a rehearsal on a movie set south of Santa Fe — not to waive the hearing.

State District Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer ordered Gutierrez-Reed, 25, to abide by standard conditions of release from jail while awaiting trial but exempted her from a provision that would have prohibited her from possessing firearms. Her attorney, Jason Bowles, said she needed a firearm to protect herself because she has received numerous phone threats and has been stalked since the Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office released investigative documents including her phone number late last year.

District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies objected to the allowance, arguing the involuntary manslaughter charge Gutierrez-Reed faces is related to her "mishandling of firearms and guns" on the Rust set.

"I just don't think it's appropriate for her to have firearms," Carmack-Altwies said. "There are other ways of dealing with this. She can move. She can have pepper spray, a bat, something else ... but I adamantly oppose her having firearms."

The judge ruled Gutierrez-Reed would be allowed to have a firearm for self-defense at her home only.

Rust star and producer Alec Baldwin — who faces the same fourth- degree felony charge as Gutierrez-Reed — waived his first appearance Thursday and entered a plea of not guilty.

Marlow Sommer ordered him placed on conditions of release that included some allowances for him to have limited contact with potential witnesses in the case — something that is usually forbidden — for business purposes, as long as the incident was only discussed in the presence of attorneys for civil litigation purposes, according to online court records.

Assistant director David Halls — who has agreed to plead guilty to the petty misdemeanor charge of negligent use of a deadly weapon as part of an agreement that calls for him to serve six months of probation — also filed a waiver of his first appearance earlier this week.

Online court records did not indicate what, if any, conditions of release the judge imposed on Halls.

His plea agreement is pending a judge's approval and has not been released.

This is a developing story. Check back for more details.