SANTA FE, NM — A special prosecutor is opposing a former movie gunsmith’s request that she be released from prison while she seeks a new trial and appeal of her manslaughter conviction in a 2021 shooting on the set of the film “Rust.”
Kari Morrissey wrote in a response filed Friday that Hannah Gutierrez-Reed’s motion for release “is premature, as the court has not yet received complete information regarding the defendant’s motion for new trial, heard arguments on the defendant and ruled on the motion in favor of the defendant.”
Gutierrez-Reed’s attorneys argued that her case should be reconsidered because prosecutors did not share evidence that could have been vindication.
Gutierrez-Reed wants a judge to throw out her conviction or order a new trial in the shooting death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins by actor Alec Baldwin.
Baldwin, the lead actor and co-producer of “Rust,” was pointing a gun at Hutchins during a rehearsal on a film set outside Santa Fe in October 2021, when the gun went off, killing Hutchins and injuring director Joel Souza.
Gutierrez-Reed already has an appeal pending in higher court over his manslaughter conviction.
She was convicted by a jury in March in a trial overseen by Judge Marlowe Sommer, who later given a maximum sentence of 18 months.
Baldwin’s trial ended on July 12 when Sommer dismissed the case based on misconduct by police and prosecutors in withholding evidence from the defense.
Prosecutors blamed Gutierrez-Reed for unwittingly bringing live ammunition onto the set of “Rust,” where it was expressly prohibited, and failing to follow basic gun safety protocols.
She was acquitted at trial on charges of having tampered with evidence in the “Rust” investigation.
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