Armourer on Alec Baldwin film Rust found guilty of manslaughter after cinematographer shot dead

6 March 2024, 23:45

The weapons supervisor on the film produced by Alec Baldwin where cinematographer Halyna Hutchins was accidentally shot dead has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter.

Hannah Gutierrez-Reed had pleaded not guilty to involuntary manslaughter and evidence tampering in the case, which was related to the 2021 incident on the set of Rust.

Gutierrez-Reed was found to have allowed a live bullet to get into the gun through negligence. Baldwin then used the gun to accidentally shoot dead Ms Hutchins and wound director Joel Souza.

She was found guilty of manslaughter but not of evidence tampering, after the jury deliberated for two hours.

Gutierrez-Reed, 26, now faces up to 18 months in jail.

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Baldwin, a co-producer of the film, was pointing a gun at Hutchins during a rehearsal on the set outside Santa Fe when it went off.

He is also facing an involuntary manslaughter charge. He has pleaded not guilty and his trial begins in July. If convicted, Baldwin could also face 18 months behind bars.

Baldwin was first charged over the fatal incident in January 2023, before the charges were dropped because of evidence suggesting the gun had been modified to allow it to fire without its trigger being pulled.

But prosecutors picked up the case again after new tests showed this may not be the case.

The gun analysis stated that "given the tests, findings and observations reported here, the trigger had to be pulled or depressed sufficiently to release the fully cocked or retracted hammer of the evidence revolver".

Baldwin has said he pulled back the hammer - but not the trigger - and the gun fired.

Rust assistant director and safety co-ordinator David Halls pleaded no contest to a conviction for unsafe handling of a firearm in March and received a suspended sentence of six months of probation.

He agreed to co-operate in the investigation of the shooting.

Following the incident, there were several civil lawsuits seeking compensation from Baldwin and producers of Rust centred on accusations that the defendants were lax with safety standards, which Baldwin and other defendants have disputed.

The cases included wrongful death claims filed by Ms Hutchins' family. Some of the people bringing those cases are members of the film's crew.

Judges agreed to pause hold several civil lawsuits.