(RepublicanView.org) – Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, who worked as the armorer for the film “Rust,” was found guilty of charges for involuntary manslaughter related to the on-set death of Halyna Hutchins.
Gutierrez-Reed was responsible for the guns used during filming. The weapons are supposed to be loaded with blank cartridges to prevent incidents. A jury eventually determined that she was guilty of failing to ensure that guns were properly loaded on the day when Hutchins was killed. Actor Alec Baldwin ultimately killed Hutchins during rehearsals with a weapon that he believed was filled with blanks.
The prosecution said Gutierrez-Reed repeatedly discussed the steps that weapons supervisors on movie sets are supposed to follow when ensuring that a gun is not loaded with actual bullets. Those steps could have helped alert her and others to the presence of live rounds before she brought the weapons to the filming location in New Mexico. They ultimately determined that she failed to use proper due diligence.
Authorities took Gutierrez-Reed into custody after the verdict was reached. Her mother broke down as the verdict was reached. She was also accused of tampering with evidence, but was found not guilty. She could spend 18 months in prison, although her legal team said that it will appeal the decision. They have argued she was used as a scapegoat to help Baldwin avoid charges. The script did not call for him to aim the weapon during that scene. They argued that she had no way of knowing that he was going to fire the gun.
Baldwin was also hit with a second round of involuntary manslaughter charges in January. The indictment accuses him of being careless with the safety of others while handling the weapon. He has repeatedly claimed that he never actually squeezed the trigger. However, authorities have determined that it could not have fired otherwise.
Charges were originally dropped against Baldwin in 2023 after “new facts” came to light. The details of those facts were not released but did point to the need to examine more forensic evidence.
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