The woman in charge of weaponry on the set of Alec Baldwin’s western movie was found guilty Wednesday of involuntary manslaughter in the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.
The jury deliberated for less than three hours after getting the case Wednesday afternoon before returning the verdict. The jurors found Hannah Gutierrez-Reed not guilty of tampering with evidence, NBC News reported.
Hutchins and director Joel Souza were shot during a rehearsal for the movie “Rust” on October 21, 2021, as CrimeOnline reported. Souza survived the shooting.
Gutierrez-Reed’s attorneys had argued that Baldwin, who was handling the gun, was more responsible for Hutchins’ death than she was.
“No one ever knew there would be a live round on set,” attorney Jason Bowles said in his closing argument. “The only act is the pointing of the weapon. Ms. Gutierrez didn’t point that weapon.”
But Gutierrez-Reed was responsible for the safety of the weapons used on the set of the move, “Rust.” While a lengthy report from the Santa Fe Sheriff’s Office was unable to determine who brought live ammunition onto the set, it was ultimately the armorer’s responsibility to make sure live ammunition wasn’t loaded into the weapons used in the movie.
Prosecutor Kari T. Morrisey has also charged Baldwin but said Wednesday that his “conduct and his lack of gun safety in the church that day is something he’s going to have to answer for … Not with you not today, that’s for another jury for another day.”
The most curious testimony in the case came from David Halls, the movie’s safety coordinator and assistant director who pleaded no contest to negligent use of a deadly weapon — a misdemeanor — almost immediately after the incident, as CrimeOnline reported. Halls, who got away with no jail time, admitted on the stand that he “did an improper check of that firearm.”
He appeared to be crying on the stand when he said, “I let a safety check pass.”
Halls handed the weapon to Baldwin and told him it was a “cold gun,” meaning it did not contain live ammunition.
Gutierrez-Reed was remanded to custody after the verdict, ABC News said. She face up to 18 months in prison. A sentencing date has not been set.
Baldwin is also charged with involuntary manslaughter, and his trial is set to begin in July.
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[Featured image: A film set at the Bonanza Creek Ranch appears in Santa Fe, N.M., Monday, Oct. 25, 2021. A camera operator told authorities that Alec Baldwin had been careful with weapons on the set of the film “Rust” before the actor shot and killed a cinematographer with a gun he’d been told was safe to use, court records released Sunday show. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)]
