SANTA FE, NM — A film industry gunmaker has asked a judge to throw out her conviction for involuntary manslaughter or grant a new trial in the gunshot death of a cameraman by actor Alec Baldwin, alleging suppression of evidence and misconduct.
In a court filing Tuesday, the defense team for gunmaker Hannah Gutierrez-Reed argued that her case should be reconsidered because prosecutors failed to present evidence that could have been exonerating.
Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer moved Baldwin’s trial to a sudden and stunning ending based on police and prosecutor misconduct over withholding evidence from defense in 2021 shooting camerawoman Halyna Hutchins on the set of the movie “Rust.”
“This court stated on July 12 that the integrity of the justice system demanded that the court dismiss Mr. Baldwin’s case with prejudice,” defense attorney Jason Bowles said in the new court filing. “How could it be any different with Ms. Gutierrez-Reed’s case, with this proven litany of egregious discovery abuses?”
Kari Morrissey, the lead prosecutor in both the Baldwin and Gutierrez-Reed cases, said her written response would be filed with the court next week. She declined to comment further.
The evidence that ended the case at Baldwin’s trial was ammunition brought to the sheriff’s office in March by a man who said it could be related to Hutchins’ murder. Prosecutors said they considered the ammunition unrelated and immaterial, while Baldwin’s attorneys claimed they had “buried” it and filed a motion to dismiss the case.
Gutierrez-Reed was convicted by a jury in March in a trial overseen by Judge Marlowe Sommer, who later the maximum sentence of 18 months was imposedGutierrez-Reed is already appealing his involuntary manslaughter conviction to a higher court.
Prosecutors accused Gutierrez-Reed of unknowingly bringing live ammunition onto the set of “Rust,” where it was expressly prohibited, and of failing to follow basic gun safety protocols.
She was acquitted at trial on charges that she tampered with evidence in the “Rust” investigation. She also pleaded not guilty to a separate felony charge of bringing a gun into a bar in Santa Fe, New Mexico, where firearms are prohibited.
Baldwin, the lead actor and co-producer of “Rust,” was point a gun at Hutchins during a rehearsal on a film set outside Santa Fe in October 2021 when the revolver went off, killing Hutchins and wounding director Joel Souza.