‘Rust’ Prosecutors Say Armorer Likely Hung Over On Set The Day Of Fatal Shooting; Decision On Re-Filing Charges Against Alec Baldwin Nears

deadline.com:

Prosecutors have responded to Rust defendant Hannah Gutierrez-Reed’s attempt to have her involuntary manslaughter charge dropped in the 2021 shooting death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, saying the indie Western’s armorer “has a history of reckless conduct that has resulted in loss of human life and it is in the public interest that she finally be held accountable.” They also said in the filing last week that a decision on whether to recharge star Alec Baldwin, who was holding the gun when it discharged, killing Hutchins and wounding director Joel Souza, could come by early August.

In the filing last week in response to Gutierrez-Reed’s motion for her criminal charge to be dismissed, New Mexico special prosecutors Kari Morrissey and Jason Lewis argued she was “not being selectively prosecuted, saying witnesses will testify that Gutierrez-Reed was “drinking heavily and smoking marijuana in the evenings during the shooting of Rust,” and that she was likely hung over on the morning of October 21, 2021, when an antique gun loaded with a live round and held by Baldwin discharged during a rehearsal. “Ms.

Gutierrez is being appropriately prosecuted because her primary function as an armorer on the Rust movie set was to ensure gun safety,” the prosecutors said in the filing (read it here). “Her reckless failure resulted in the senseless death of another human being. “All Defendant Gutierrez needed to do was shake every bullet and make sure it rattled before putting it in the gun – she failed and killed someone.

Moreover, Defendant Gutierrez has previously been sued civilly for providing the keys to her motorcycle to an intoxicated person who was predictably involved in a motor vehicle accident that resulted in someone’s