Posted on 04/15/2024 9:52:00 AM PDT by Red Badger
"Rust" armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed will be sentenced in a Santa Fe, New Mexico, court Monday for the killing of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins after being found guilty of involuntary manslaughter last month.
Prosecutors are seeking the maximum penalty of 18 months in state prison.
Following Gutierrez-Reed's conviction, the judge ordered the 26-year-old to be held in police custody pending her sentencing. She was found not guilty of tampering with evidence.
In recorded jail phone conversations with her mother, boyfriend and her attorney’s paralegal, Gutierrez-Reed called jurors “idiots” and “a--holes” while complaining about the length of time it took them to deliberate, according to a recent filing by prosecutors.
Also in the phone calls, she said that she would not testify in actor Alec Baldwin’s upcoming criminal trial if subpoenaed and that she wants him to go to jail, too.
The almost two-week criminal trial centered on the shooting on the “Rust” film set in 2021, when Baldwin held a prop gun that fired a live round of ammunition, killing Hutchins, 42. The bullet also injured director Joel Souza.
During the prosecution’s closing arguments, special prosecutor Kari T. Morrissey told the jury that Gutierrez-Reed “was negligent, she was careless, she was thoughtless.”
But Gutierrez-Reed’s attorney, Jason Bowles, said the prosecutors had not proved beyond a reasonable doubt that Gutierrez-Reed was responsible for taking live rounds onto the set and alleged that Baldwin was ultimately responsible for Hutchins’ death.
He also doubled down, saying “What caused her to pass was Mr. Baldwin going off-script and pointing the weapon.”
Bowles added that “the only ultimate act is the pointing of that weapon. Ms. Gutierrez wasn’t in the church, she didn’t point that weapon, she didn’t pull it.”
Baldwin, who is charged with involuntary manslaughter, is set to stand trial in July.
Meanwhile, the guy who pulled the trigger is still walking around.
These are always tough cases. The defendant didn’t intend to hurt anyone. She should have never had this type of assignment. On the other hand, you have a death and a grieving family. The sentence should be 6 months and probation, not the maximum 18 months IMHO>
The jack wad who pulled the trigger is the only one who should’ve been charged. I don’t care what someone hands me. I treat all guns as if they are loaded
His trial starts in July
She’s not twelve
She didn’t pull a trigger
I didn’t suggest that she was ‘twelve’. I just expected someone more self possessed and mature-looking.
We’ll hand Baldwin not been the idiot he is this would have never happened
I'm not sure what "off script" means here. I thought the cinematographer was still blocking the shot before they were going to start filming. Baldwin was just standing there during the blocking, wasting time by "practicing" his draw with the gun.
There was plenty of time for him to check the gun himself while the camera people were still setting up the shot.
-PJ
As the armorer, she was supposed to keep the guns locked up in a locker when they weren't being used on the set. How did the others use it for live fire without her first making the gun available to them?
-PJ
I get that people despise alec baldwin but that doesn’t make her any less responsible for what happened......if an armorer isn’t responsible for firearms, ammo and safety on the movie set why have one at all?
Defendents are instructed by their lawyers not to show emotion in court.
Did they ever say where the live ammo came from?
” It is NOT an actor’s job to check a firearm.”
You Ma’am, are very wrong in that assumption. It may not be policy on a set, but if you are handed a real firearm, it’s your job to verify whether it’s loaded, or not, if you’re an actor, or a plumber, same thing applies.
If they’re “playing” with guns, they should be made of wood, and painted yellow.
They are using real firearms, that’s the game changer.
The person holding the gun is the one who killed the cameraman, not some off-set employee.
So how much time did this guy serve?
I read an allusion to a need for special certification for firearms armorers in England; do we not have that here in the US? Because that seems better than relying on someone’s having been fathered by “a famous armorer”!
Someone commented here that it's not the actor's job to ensure guns are unloaded. That's BS, it's ALWAYS the person's job who is handling a firearm's job to ensure it's state. Being on a movie set does not change that, that's a universal rule. Arguing that is like arguing that gravity shouldn't apply to you. You can say it, but that doesn't make it so.
“Defendents are instructed by their lawyers not to show emotion in court.”
That strategy can backfire.....and it may just have in this case.
This!
Lock up both of them.
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