'Rust' movie armorer sentenced to 18 months in prison
'Rust' armorer sentenced to 18 months in prison
Former "Rust" armorer Hannah Gutierrez Reed was sentenced to 18 months in prison after a jury found her guilty of involuntary manslaughter in the killing of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins. The 18-month sentence was the maximum time Gutierrez Reed could serve.
Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, a movie weapons supervisor, was sentenced to 18 months in prison Monday for the deadly shooting of a cinematographer by Alec Baldwin on the set of the Western movie "Rust."
Gutierrez-Reed was convicted in March by a jury on a charge of involuntary manslaughter in the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and has been held for over a month at a county jail near Santa Fe, New Mexico, the Associated Press reported.
FILE-Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, former armorer for the movie "Rust," listens to closing arguments in her trial at district court on March 6, 2024 in Santa Fe, New Mexico. (Photo by Luis Sánchez Saturno - Pool/Getty Images)
The sentence against Gutierrez-Reed was delivered by New Mexico Judge Mary Marlowe Summer, who is overseeing proceedings against Baldwin.
RELATED: Rust movie shooting: Jury convicts movie armorer of involuntary manslaughter
Gutierrez-Reed teared up Monday as Hutchins’ agent, Craig Mizrahi, spoke about the cinematographer’s creativity and described her as a rising star in Hollywood, the Associated Press reported.
Mizrahi said it was a chain of events that led to Hutchins’ death and that had the armorer been doing her job, that chain would have been broken.
Friends and family, including director Joel Souza, told the court they were seeking justice for what had happened to the cinematographer. They said she was "a bright beam of light," describing her as courageous, tenacious and compassionate.
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New Mexico safety regulators fined Rust Movie Productions more than $136,000 for gun safety failures on the "Rust" movie set. Regulators determined the film production company didn't have proper safety measures in place.
Baldwin, the lead actor and co-producer for "Rust," was pointing a gun at Hutchins when the revolver went off, killing Hutchins and wounding Souza. He pleaded not guilty to an involuntary manslaughter charge stating that he pulled back the gun's hammer, but not the trigger, before the gun discharged.
The actor’s trial is scheduled for July before the same judge who oversaw the trial of Gutierrez-Reed.
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The AP reports that prosecutors blamed Gutierrez-Reed for bringing live ammunition onto the set of "Rust" where it was banned and for failing to follow basic gun safety protocols.
Following a two-week trial, the jury deliberated for about three hours before reaching a verdict.
RELATED: Alec Baldwin indicted for cinematographer's fatal shooting on 'Rust' movie set
Attorneys for Gutierrez-Reed asked for leniency in sentencing — including a conditional discharge that would avoid further jail time and leave an adjudication of guilt off her record if certain conditions are met, according to the AP.
Gutierrez-Reed was acquitted at trial of accusations she tampered with evidence in the "Rust" probe.
The 26-year-old was on her second feature film as armorer at the time of the 2021 shooting. She pleaded not guilty before trial to the charges of involuntary manslaughter and evidence tampering at the trial held in downtown Santa Fe.
The Associated Press contributed to this report. This story was reported from Washington, D.C.