The weapons supervisor of the film Rust was jailed for 18 months following the fatal shooting of the film’s cinematographer on set.
Hannah Gutierrez, 26, was sentenced today after being found guilty of involuntary manslaughter by jurors in Santa Fe, New Mexicofollowing a trial.
She was in charge of weapons during production of the western in October 2021, when a Colt 45 revolver fired by the actor and co-producer Alex Baldwin went out during a rehearsal.
Director of Photography Halyna Hutchins died following the incident, while director Joel Souza was injured.
Jurors in Gutierrez’s trial reached their verdict after a two-week trial in which they heard from dozens of witnesses, including eyewitnesses, FBI evidence analysts and a Rust munitions supplier, as well as Mr. Souza, during a 10-day trial.
A statement from Ms Hutchins’ mother, Olga Solovey, was read aloud in court during Gutierrez’s sentencing.
In it, she said that her life had been split in two and that time did not heal, but only prolonged her pain and suffering.
“It’s the hardest thing to lose a child. There are no words to describe it,” said Ms. Solovey, originally from Ukraine.
“You have transformed a safe weapon into a deadly weapon.”
Giving Gutierrez the maximum sentence, Judge Mary Marlowe Summer said parole was not appropriate and that leaving the weapons supervisor in a detention center “would get you a free pass you don’t deserve.”
“I didn’t hear you take responsibility for your speech, you said you were sorry but not that you were ‘sorry for what you did’. It was your lawyer who had to tell the court that you had remorse,” the judge said.
“The term remorse, a deep regret arising from a sense of guilt for past wrongs, is not you.”
She said Gutierrez’s actions constituted a “serious and violent offense” that was “committed in a physically violent manner.”
“You were the gunsmith, the one who stood between a safe weapon and a weapon capable of killing someone. You alone transformed a safe weapon into a deadly weapon,” the judge added.
“Without you, Mrs. Hutchins would be alive, a husband would have his partner, and a little boy would have his mother.”
Prosecutors accused Gutierrez of unwittingly bringing live ammunition onto the set where it was prohibited and failing to follow basic gun safety protocols.
They had urged the judge to impose an 18-month sentence and designate Gutierrez-Reed as a “serious violent offender” to limit his later eligibility for a reduced sentence.
But defense attorneys said the weapons supervisor will forever be negatively affected by the intense publicity associated with her parallel prosecution with a high-profile actor, and as a result she suffers from anxiety, fear and depression.
After the verdicthis legal team had requested a new trial and requested his release from prison.
What’s going on in Baldwin’s case?
Baldwin, 66, a producer of the film as well as its star, is also charged with manslaughter and will face a separate trial on July 10. He has denied any wrongdoing.
His trial is being overseen by the same judge who convicted Gutierrez-Reed.
Baldwin was initially charged in January 2023, more than a year after the shooting. Those charges were dropped a few months later based on evidence that the revolver’s hammer may have been modified, allowing it to fire without the trigger being pulled.
The star was then charged again in January this year.
Baldwin said he removed the hammer from the gun — but not the trigger — and the gun fired.
His legal team filed a motion asking that the charges be dropped again. Prosecutors responded to this last week, submit a 32-page document who claims that footage of the star on set shows he had “absolutely no control over his own emotions” and “no concern about how his conduct” affected those around him.
Assistant director David Halls, who also faced charges, took a plea bargain last year for negligent use of a deadly weapon, and received a six-month suspended sentence.
Filming on Rust resumed last year in Montana – with Baldwin reprising his role as the title character – after a deal making Ms Hutchins’ widower an executive producer.