‘Rust’ Armorer Hannah Gutierrez Reed Guilty of Involuntary Manslaughter in Accidental Shooting
07.03.2024 - 00:17
/ variety.com
Gene Maddaus Senior Media Writer Hannah Gutierrez Reed, the armorer on the ill-fated Western film “Rust,” was convicted on Wednesday of involuntary manslaughter in the death of the film’s cinematographer. Jurors returned a verdict after less than three hours of deliberations on Wednesday afternoon, following two weeks of testimony about safety lapses on set. Gutierrez Reed was acquitted of a separate charge of tampering with evidence.
She faces up to 18 months in prison at sentencing, which is expected sometime in April. Following the verdict, Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer ordered Gutierrez Reed remanded into custody. As her attorney, Monnica Barreras, rubbed her back to comfort her, bailiffs led her away.
Outside the First Judicial District courthouse in Santa Fe, N.M., juror Alberto Sanchez told reporters that the jury reached a “fair” verdict. “Someone died,” Sanchez said. “You gotta take responsibility.
Especially when you’re handling weapons and you’re in charge of those. That’s your job.” Gutierrez Reed was the first person to stand trial in the Oct. 21, 2021, shooting on the film set at the Bonanza Creek Ranch outside Santa Fe, N.M.
Alec Baldwin is set to face his own manslaughter trial in July. The first assistant director, Dave Halls, took a plea deal last year to a misdemeanor count of negligent handling of a gun, and served six months of unsupervised probation. Gutierrez Reed loaded a live bullet into Baldwin’s pistol, which should have contained only dummy rounds.