‘Rust’ Armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed Wants Ex’s Death Excluded From Trial
The criminal case against "Rust" armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed continues to take shape ahead of her February 2024 trial.
In January 2023, the rookie armorer was charged with two counts of involuntary manslaughter in connection with the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, who passed away on set when a gun held by Alec Baldwin went off.
The charges against Baldwin were dropped a few months later without prejudice as special prosecutors continued their investigation, meaning that he could still be charged again at any time.
While Baldwin got his charges dismissed, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed was slapped with an additional charge of tampering with evidence after prosecutors claimed that they found a witness who alleged that the armorer was "hungover" on set and transferred cocaine to another person on the day Hutchins was killed, thus hampering the police investigation.
Ahead of her trial, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed's legal team seems adamant about trying to make sure some information does not appear in front of the jury.
'Rust' Armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed Does Not Want Ex's Death Included In Her Trial
According to new court documents obtained by The Blast, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed's legal team filed three separate motions seeking to exclude evidence in the upcoming trial, which was originally scheduled for December 2023.
Her attorneys are seeking to sever the tampering count from the involuntary manslaughter charge and exclude any mention of supposed drug possession, drug use, or intoxication. They are also seeking to exclude evidence about handing the keys to an intoxicated individual (her then-boyfriend) who died in a subsequent motorcycle crash over a year before the "Rust" shooting. Although her legal team feels that these events are unrelated, prosecutors may be looking to paint a picture of the rookie armorer as a "careless or reckless person."
"The facts of this motorcycle accident do not have a tendency to make a fact of consequence in determining the outcome of the instant case more or less probable than it would be without the evidence," the filing states. "A motorcycle accident in a different state, that took place over a year before the date of incident in this case, without any persons in common with the exception of Ms. Gutierrez Reed, is simply put irrelevant to the case at hand. The fact that this incident did not involve Ms. Gutierrez Reed working as an armorer or on a film set compounds the irrelevancy of this information. It will be of zero assistance to the jury in deciding the charges pending against Ms. Gutierrez Reed and should be excluded."
Her legal team goes on to speculate that "The government may intend to utilize the motorcycle accident information to make a propensity argument that Ms. Gutierrez Reed is a careless or reckless person" and requests that any mention of the event be excluded from the trial, as her legal team feels that they are not relevant to what happened on the set of "Rust" in October 2021.
Her Legal Team Wants To Avoid Bias In Potential Jurors
Last week, as previously reported by The Blast, her attorneys Jason Bowles of Bowles Law Firm and Todd J. Bullion of Bullion Law Office filed a motion asking the court to add a question to potential jurors inquiring how much they have heard about the "Rust" incident from the media in an attempt to eliminate prejudice in potential jurors.
"As this Court is aware, this case has generated intense publicity over the past year and a half," the filing states. "There have been numerous statements made in the press regarding Ms. Gutierrez-Reed. The likelihood is that some or most jurors will have heard or read something in the press."
Her attorneys asked the court to "allow a general question regarding anyone hearing or reading about this case or Ms. Gutierrez-Reed in the press and a show of hands" so as "to not taint the panel."
The court documents go on to state, "What counsel is trying to avoid is the panel being prejudiced by jurors saying what they have heard in front of other panel members," explaining that "This is important to ensure a fair and impartial jury for Ms. Gutierrez-Reed."
Counsel for the state did not oppose the motion. Jury selection for the "Rust" armorer is scheduled to begin in February 2024. In May 2023, Alec Baldwin took to Instagram to announce that filming on the Western film had wrapped. No release date has been scheduled at this time.
Hannah Gutierrez-Reed Offered Leniency Under One Condition
In another twist to the case, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed was offered a “favorable” outcome last fall if she explained how live rounds made it onto the set of “Rust,” as reported by Variety. However, she was warned that, if she refused, she could face additional charges.
Gutierrez-Reed could face up to three years in prison if convicted on charges of involuntary manslaughter and tampering with evidence. When asked why there was no live ammo on set during the police investigation, Gutierrez-Reed reportedly responded, “I have no idea.” At this time, prosecutors still have not been able to explain where the live rounds came from.
Last September, special prosecutor Kari Morrisey wrote an email to Gutierrez-Reed’s lawyer, claiming that the rookie armorer knows more than she is letting on. “I feel very strongly she has some notion of how the live rounds came on set,” Morrissey wrote at the time. “I certainly respect her right not to come forward with that information and to stay silent, however, if she were to come forward and answer some of these questions that plague the victims in this case that would go a long way toward getting her a favorable resolution.”
“If she chooses not to, while I respect her decision, I will proceed with the additional felony charges we spoke of,” Morrissey added. Gutierrez-Reed’s lawyer, Jason Bowles, responded by invoking the armorer’s right against self-incrimination.
She Is Facing Firearm Charges For Bringing A Gun Into A Dive Bar
A few weeks later, on November 16, Gutierrez-Reed was indicted on a charge of carrying a firearm in a liquor establishment, which is a fourth-degree felony. According to the indictment, she brought a gun into the Matador, a Santa Fe dive bar, in October 2021, before the "Rust" shooting.
In court documents obtained by The Blast, Bowles says that the charge was filed in retaliation after she exercised her right to remain silent. “This is an extremely rare case in which we have a statement of the prosecutor’s motive behind charging,” Bowles wrote. “That charge was solely designed to pressure Ms. Gutierrez Reed into giving up her Fifth Amendment right to silence (to provide information she didn’t have) or face felony criminal prosecution on a totally unrelated charge.”
Bowles also argued that she has no authority to bring charges unrelated to the shooting, as the special prosecutor’s salary is paid by a specific appropriation by the New Mexico legislature. Bowles also argued that the evidence related to the new charges came from an “improper search of pictures and data” on her phone. Bowles said that her phone was turned over to investigators under the condition that her phone search would be limited to information that was relevant to the “Rust” shooting.
