Hannah Gutierrez, the weapons handler within the ill-fated Alec Baldwin western film “Rust,” has been launched from jail after serving 14 months for her conviction final yr of involuntary manslaughter.
Gutierrez was launched Friday from a New Mexico girls’s jail after finishing her sentence within the unintended capturing of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins in October 2021.
Gutierrez was one among three individuals charged in Hutchins’ loss of life on the film set south of Santa Fe, N.M., however the one one who acquired a felony conviction. A jury discovered her responsible of involuntary manslaughter in Hutchins’ loss of life following a dramatic two-week trial final yr in Santa Fe.
New Mexico prosecutors faulted the Arizona girl for reckless dealing with of firearms and ammunition in violation of gun security guidelines.
The particular prosecutor additionally argued that Gutierrez had unwittingly introduced the stay bullets along with her to the favored western movie location, Bonanza Creek Ranch, and mingled them with inert “dummy” bullets used on movie units.
Gutierrez has denied that allegation. There was no conclusive proof introduced in regards to the origins of the stay bullets.
Actor Alec Baldwin throughout his 2024 trial in Santa Fe for his position within the deadly capturing of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.
(Ramsay de Give / Related Press)
Baldwin, who pointed the gun at Hutchins throughout a rehearsal, additionally was charged. He pleaded not responsible to involuntary manslaughter for the capturing that killed the 42-year-old cinematographer, a rising star within the trade, and wounded the movie’s director, Joel Souza.
The New Mexico choose overseeing the “Rust” legal prosecutions, New Mexico 1st Judicial District Courtroom Decide Mary Marlowe Sommer, dismissed the cost towards Baldwin three days into his high-profile trial final July.
Marlowe Sommer discovered the prosecutor and Santa Fe County sheriff’s deputies had hid proof from Baldwin’s authorized crew, which the choose stated prejudiced the case towards Baldwin. On the time, the actor-producer’s crew was exploring whether or not prosecutors and sheriff’s deputies botched the investigation into how the bullets made their means onto the set.
Assistant director David Halls was additionally charged within the capturing.
Halls pleaded no contest to negligent use of a lethal weapon and acquired a suspended six-month sentence, which resulted in October 2023. Halls, who has since retired from the trade, agreed to pay a $500 high quality, take part in a firearms security class, chorus from taking medicine or alcohol and full 24 hours of neighborhood service.
Gutierrez had acquired the utmost sentence for her position.
She was launched on parole. She is also being supervised underneath phrases of probation after pleading responsible to a separate cost of unlawfully carrying a gun right into a Santa Fe bar that prohibited firearms just a few days earlier than the deadly capturing, in accordance with the Related Press.
Phrases of her parole embody psychological well being assessments and a ban on firearms possession.
Gutierrez, by means of her legal professional, declined an interview request Sunday.
“When I took on ‘Rust,’ I was young and I was naive but I took my job as seriously as I knew how to,” Gutierrez informed the choose throughout her April 2024 sentencing listening to.
Marlowe Sommer, who additionally presided over the armorer’s case, gave Gutierrez the utmost sentence, saying: “You were the armorer, the one that stood between a safe weapon and a weapon that could kill someone. .. You alone turned a safe weapon into a lethal weapon.”
With Gutierrez’s launch, the legal part of the “Rust” saga has concluded.
A number of civil lawsuits towards Baldwin and the producers, together with from Hutchins’ members of the family, stay unresolved.
Baldwin and different actors and crew members completed filming in Montana, 18 months after the deadly capturing in New Mexico. The film was lastly launched within the U.S. this month on only a handful of screens.
The October 2021 capturing shined a harsh gentle on movie set security, notably on low-budget productions.
“Rust” was racked with issues, together with allegations of security guidelines and hiring inexperienced crew members equivalent to Gutierrez. “Rust” was simply her second job as head armorer. She additionally was tasked with the job of prop assistant.
Hours earlier than the deadly capturing, “Rust” digital camera crew members had walked off the job to protest security issues and a scarcity of housing close to the movie’s set. Crew members complained about earlier unintended gun discharges.
Gutierrez is the stepdaughter of well-known Hollywood armorer Thell Reed.
