Judge Upholds Conviction in "Rust" Shooting Case, Denies Retrial for Weapons Supervisor
A New Mexico judge has ruled to uphold the involuntary manslaughter conviction of Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, the weapons supervisor for the film Rust, rejecting her request for a retrial or case dismissal.
Gutierrez, 27, is six months into an 18-month sentence after being found guilty of her role in the fatal 2021 on-set shooting that killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.
Gutierrez's defence had argued that the state withheld potential evidence, which they believed could have changed the outcome of her trial. However, Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer rejected this claim, stating that her lawyers had not proven that the undisclosed evidence would have altered the verdict. The defence had also requested Gutierrez's immediate release from custody, which was denied.
This ruling comes in the wake of the dismissal of similar charges against actor Alec Baldwin, who was holding the gun that discharged during the incident. Baldwin's case was thrown out earlier this year after his legal team discovered live rounds had been suppressed as evidence. The court found that these rounds were not shared with Baldwin's defence team, leading to his case being dismissed.
Gutierrez's team argued that the same evidence was mishandled in her trial, but the judge determined that Gutierrez and her defence had access to the live rounds but chose not to use them.
The live rounds were turned over to the Santa Fe Sheriff’s Office by a family friend of Gutierrez, retired officer Troy Teske. Teske claimed the ammunition might have been connected to the Rust set, but it was filed under a different case number, sparking accusations of evidence concealment. During Baldwin’s trial, this evidence played a pivotal role in getting his charges dropped.
Prosecutors in Gutierrez's case, however, insist that the ammunition was unrelated and did not hold any evidentiary value. Special prosecutor Kari Morrissey said that the defence can't claim the evidence was suppressed, as it was available during trial. She added that while the state did fail to disclose certain reports and interviews, this did not impact the outcome of Gutierrez’s trial.
Judge Sommer agreed with the prosecution, stating in her ruling that the defence’s arguments did not justify a retrial.
“The state did not suppress the ammunition evidence at the heart of Baldwin's dismissal,” she said.
Gutierrez’s legal team has indicated they will appeal this decision. They continue to assert that their client was not given a fair trial, stating ongoing concerns over evidence handling as the reason. Despite these legal setbacks, her conviction stands, and she remains in custody while her appeal is pending.
