Rust armourer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter on the film set where cinematographer Halyna Hutchins died on October 2021 by a jury in New Mexico.
The jury delivered its verdict after deliberating for a couple of hours on Wednesday afternoon. Jurors had to reach unanimous agreement that Gutierrez-Reed, 26, ought to have known of the danger posed by her actions and that she acted with “wilful disregard for the safety of others”.
Gutierrez-Reed was found not guilty on a charge of evidence tampering.
She will remain in custody until sentencing, which is expected in April. She faces up to 18 months in prison.
The prosecution argued Gutierrez-Reed did not follow safety procedures and acted negligently when she handed Alec Baldwin a gun during a rehearsal on October 21, 2021, which turned out to be loaded with a live round.
The gun discharged in Baldwin’s hands and hit Hutchins, who died later in hospital. Director Joel Souza was struck in the shoulder and discharged from hospital later that night.
Gutierrez-Reed’s defence attorney Jason Bowles argued a safety investigation found management was partly to blame for not giving his client sufficient time to perform her job., and that the production’s weapons supplier Seth Kenney was partly to blame.
Baldwin is due to stand trial in July on charges of involuntary manslaughter. He has pleaded not guilty.
No comments yet