BREAKING NEWSRust armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed is found guilty of involuntary manslaughter over shooting death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins

• e-mail

The armorer for the Alec Baldwin movie Rust has been found guilty in the shooting death of the film's cinematographer.

A jury found that Hannah Gutierrez-Reed negligently allowed a live bullet to get into the gun on the set of Western which Baldwin used to accidentally shoot dead Halyna Hutchins, the movie's cinematographer.

After two hours of deliberations at the court in Santa Fe, New Mexico, a jury found her guilty on the manslaughter count, but not the tampering with evidence charge. 

Gutierrez-Reed, 26, the daughter of respected film industry armorer Thell Reed, faces up to 18 months in jail. She showed little emotion as the verdicts were read, but a family member broke down while sitting behind the now-convicted felon.

Judge Mary Sommer decided to remand Gutierrez-Reed in custody telling her the reason is because, 'you are now convicted [...] it's criminal negligence, but still a death.'

The verdict seemingly spells trouble for Baldwin, 65, when he goes on trial in July in the same courthouse for involuntary manslaughter. If found guilty he faces 18 months in jail as well.

Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, 26, was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter in the 2021 shooting death of Rust cinematographer Halyna Hutchins 

Halyna Hutchins, 42, a mother-of-one, was shot dead by Alec Baldwin on the set of Rust in October 2021. Baldwin is due to go on trial in July 

Gutierrez-Reed also faced a charge of tampering with evidence after prosecutors claimed she gave another person a bag of cocaine after a police interview to prevent law enforcement from obtaining it

Baldwin was originally charged with involuntary manslaughter but the allegations were dropped in April last year.

He was dramatically charged again last month and pleaded not guilty.

The accident happened in October 2021 after two weeks of filming while Baldwin was practicing drawing out his gun from the holster.

He opened fire on Hutchins, 42, a married mother-of-one whose son was nine at the time, and the bullet went through her and lodged in the shoulder of director Joel Souza, who survived and testified in court.

While Baldwin was not the defendant in this case at times it felt that he was, with one witness stating as much out loud.

Across more than two dozen witnesses, prosecutors painted a damning portrait of a film that was in a state of 'rushed chaos'.

The night before the incident, six members of the camera crew quit because of their concerns over safety.

Gutierrez-Reed's defense was to blame everyone but her, but especially Baldwin.

Her lawyer Jason Bowles said that Baldwin was the 'big boss' on set that nobody stood up to even though he rushed people and ignored safety checks because Rust, which he was a producer on, had a tight budget.

The jury heard that Baldwin commissioned Rust director Joel Souza to write the script, which he owned the rights to, was the lead actor on the movie and was also a producer.

Bowles called Gutierrez-Reed, who was just 24 at the time of the incident, a 'scapegoat' for wider failings that led the New Mexico safety regulator to issue a $136,000 fine to the producers for 'willful and serious' safety failings.

Baldwin, 65, who was the lead actor and a producer in the movie, will face a separate trial in July for involuntary manslaughter, which he denies

The jury was shown shocking images of cinematographer's Halyna Hutchins' the blood-stained shirt 

THE CASE AGAINST THE ARMORER

Prosecutors painted a different picture and called her 'sloppy' in her handling of guns and ammunition.

In his opening statement, Jason Lewis said she 'routinely left guns and ammunition lying around the set unattended' and her gun safe and ammunition cart were 'constantly disorganized', he said.

Lewis said: 'The prospect of live ammunition landing up on a film set is incomprehensible, it's something that should never happen'.

The jury were shown photos taken by crime scene investigator Marissa Poppell which showed the chaotic way in which ammunition and guns were stored on the set of Rust.

Rather than having guns locked away at all times as was standard practice, the images showed a gun - which could have fired live rounds - sitting on top of the cart.

Loose rounds of various calibers were scattered everywhere and Gutierrez-Reed kept them in a fanny pack and a bag with a can of Red Bull wedged by the side.

Poppell told the court that she eventually found six live rounds on the set: two of them were on the top of the prop cart and two others were in gun belts used by the actors.

Another live round was found in the box of bullets that Gutierrez-Reed said she got the ammunition to put in Baldwin's gun.

That round was visibly different to the other rounds and had a bright silver primer on the back, something the others didn't have.

Ross Addiego, who worked as a dolly grip on Rust, said that Gutierrez-Reed was 'less professional' than other armorers he had worked with.

While others were 'anal retentive' he said that Gutierrez-Reed was more relaxed and stored her ammunition in a fanny pack, something he had never seen before.

In her interview with police, Gutierrez-Reed said that she had no idea how live rounds got on set, and even raised the idea that somebody could have done it deliberately as an act of sabotage.

Gutierrez-Reed said it was 'f****** mind boggling' how live ammo got mixed in with blank rounds and said that a 'wonky' round could have been to blame

But in a damning moment, Cpl Alexandria Hancock from the Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office asked Gutierrez-Reed if the silver primer on the live bullet didn't stick out to you when you loaded that gun?'

'No', she replied.

Cpl Hancock asked if Gutierrez-Reed didn't notice that 'the rest of them were not the same color?'

'No', she replied again.

The jury were shown the video of Gutierrez-Reed’s interview by the sheriff Santa Fe, New Mexico, hours after the incident in October 2021

Production of Rust stopped abruptly in October 2021 when a prop gun held by Baldwin fired a live round that killed Hutchins

The new set is pictured in Livingston, Montana. Despite the new set also having a church building, scene 121 - which was the one Baldwin was practicing - has been removed from the movie entirely and will not be reshot

The jury was shown behind the scenes videos from the filming which showed what a firearms expert argued were gross breaches of safety.

Bryan Carpenter, a former police SWAT officer who now works as an armorer and firearms instructor for films and TV, chided Gutierrez-Reed for holding a shotgun with its muzzle face up, pointing straight at her own face.

Asked how you could maintain proper gun safety on set when the armorer was handling guns in this way, Carpenter said: 'It's a very good question. It would be hard to implement'.

During another scene, a male actor pointed a gun at a 12-year-old boy who was part of the cast, a moment especially chilling given there were live rounds discovered on set.

During cross examination of Carpenter, Bowles, Gutierrez-Reed's lawyer, did what he did throughout the trial - and tried to pin the blame on Baldwin.

THE CASE AGAINST ALEC BALDWIN

Bowles told the court that Baldwin himself made the set unsafe by waving his gun like a 'pointing stick' at people.

A behind the scenes video from the filming showed Baldwin demanding a second shot immediately after one that just finished.

He was heard saying: 'Right away! Right away! Let's reload. Here we go, come on! We should have two guns, both reloading'.

Asked if that kind of conduct was typical, Carpenter said no, adding that it put pressure on the armorer to stand up to him.

Moments later, after the director shouted cut, Baldwin let loose another blank round while standing next to the 12-year-old actor

Carpenter said that when somebody yells cut, nothing else should be fired and that Baldwin 'went off script'.

Baldwin could have used a Nerf gun in the scene where he accidentally shot Hutchins dead because it was just a rehearsal known as blocking, the jury heard.

But Baldwin insisted on using the real guns, known as his 'hero props', because he preferred them, just like he preferred the most powerful dummies possible because they were more realistic.

Baldwin was originally charged with involuntary manslaughter but the allegations were dropped in April last year. He was dramatically charged again last month and pleaded not guilty

Jurors were shown a video shot during production of Rust in which Baldwin pointed the gun at the crew and cast members including a 12-year-old boy between scenes 

Jurors were told that Baldwin himself made the set unsafe by waving his gun like a 'pointing stick' at people and firing rounds after the director said cut

In his opening statement, Bowles said that Baldwin 'violated basic gun safety' by pointing the gun at Hutchins because he didn't intend to shoot at her.

He said: 'The primary thing here was rush, get this thing so we can get the money and that's all on production and Mr Baldwin is one of the primary producers. That's on them. Miss Gutierrez-Reed had no control over that'.

During cross examination of Addiego, Bowles asked: 'Did you ever stand up to Mr Baldwin and say we're not going to move this fast?'.

Addiego said it was 'not my job' and he didn't recall 'anybody standing up to Mr Baldwin on the set of Rust'.

'He's running the show, he's the big boss, right?' Bowles said.

'He's number one, so yes,' Addiego said.

Perhaps the most damning evidence against Baldwin undercut his claim that he never pulled the trigger on the gun.

Bryce Ziegler, an agent with the FBI firearms unit who examined the gun Baldwin used, said he had to break the gun with a mallet to get it to fire without using the trigger.

Ziegler said that couldn't have happened on the set of Rust because the gun was in working order when it came to him.

Speaking to ABC News in December 2021 Baldwin said: 'I didn't pull the trigger. I would never point a gun at anyone and pull the trigger at them. Never'.

In her police interview Gutierrez-Reed pointed the finger at Baldwin as well and claimed that he was distracted during the safety briefing she tried to give him.

She said that the actor was 'on his phone a lot of that entire thing' and didn't pay attention when she was showing him how to use the weapon.

FBI firearms expert Bryce Ziegler gave evidence that challenged Alec Baldwin's version of events 

Gutierrez-Reed was convicted of involuntary manslaughter and also faced a charge of tampering with evidence 

EMOTIONAL MOMENTS

There were numerous emotional moments during the trial, including the very first exhibit shown by prosecutors.

The body camera footage from Nicholas Lefleur, the first police officer on the scene, was deemed by the judge to be too graphic to be shown on the live stream.

It showed Hutchins' body lying on the floor covered in blood in the moments after the shooting, and Baldwin in the background looking pensive.

Gutierrez-Reed looked away and appeared to cry when the court was shown photos of Hutchins' body taken by the medical examiner before it was cleaned up for the autopsy.

Footage from the bodycam for Cpl Hancock, who attended the aftermath of the incident, showed Gutierrez-Reed saying: 'Welcome to the worst day of my life'.

Gutierrez-Reed also said: 'I just want to get the f*** out of here and never show my face in this industry again'.

Dave Halls, the first assistant director on Rust, broke down in tears while telling the jury how he was the last person apart from Gutierrez-Reed to check the gun before giving it to Baldwin

A firearms expert showed off to the jury a gun similar to that Baldwin used to shoot Hutchins

There was powerful testimony from Dave Halls, the first assistant director on the film and the last person to handle the gun before giving it to Baldwin.

Before the trial Halls had pleaded no contest to a charge of negligent use of a deadly weapon and received six months probation.

Asked why he did so, Halls said: 'I was negligent in checking the gun properly'.

Halls became emotional as he described what happened next in the chapel on the set of Rust.

He said: 'Mr Baldwin was pulling it (the gun) out, getting used to that action

'He was in communication with Miss Hutchins about where to point the gun.

'The gun went off.

'It was so many thoughts (in my head). The idea it was a live round of ammunition that went off, it wasn't computing'.

Hutchins was 3ft away from Halls to his left and he said to her: 'Are you all right'.

In tears, Halls said that Hutchins replied: 'I can't feel my legs'.

Addiego also broke down in tears while being pressed by Bowles on why he was part of a civil lawsuit against Baldwin and the Rust producers for negligence.

He said: 'I'm hoping for justice, sir

'Two people were injured on a film set. That has not only affected me - it's affected the film industry'.

The criminal case is not the only court proceedings resulting from the shooting of Hutchins.

In 2022 Baldwin settled a civil lawsuit filed against him by Matthew Hutchins, the widow of Hutchins, and the father of their son.

Under the terms Rust continued production at a new location in Montana and Matthew Hutchins, who has called his wife's death a 'terrible accident', is an executive producer.

No date has yet been set for the film's release.