Alec Baldwin's 'Rust' armorer sentenced to maximum time in fatal on-set shooting
Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer sentenced Hannah Gutierrez Reed to 18 months in prison after a jury found her guilty of involuntary manslaughter.
The "Rust" armorer was responsible for the firearms on the Western film set where cinematographer Halyna Hutchins was shot and killed on Oct. 21, 2021. Hutchins had been preparing a close-up shot when a gun Alec Baldwin was holding discharged. The 18-month sentence was the maximum time Gutierrez Reed could serve. She has currently spent about a month behind bars.
"For all the fanfare and pundits and finger-pointing that has been going on for over two years, we were able to seat a jury of her peers who confirmed that they could listen to the evidence received in court and determine the facts and apply the law," Sommer said before giving her ruling. "They found Ms. Gutierrez guilty of involuntary manslaughter."
Sommer slammed Gutierrez Reed's jailhouse calls, pointing out that the armorer spoke to someone about how "this is messing up her modeling career."
ALEC BALDWIN'S ‘RUST’ ARMORER CONVICTED OF INVOLUNTARY MANSLAUGHTER
"I find that what you did constitutes a serious, violent offense," Sommer said following the sentencing. "It was committed in a physically violent manner. A fatal gunshot done with your recklessness in the face of knowledge that your acts were reasonably likely to result in serious harm."
"You were the armorer, the one that's to be between a safe weapon and a weapon that could kill someone. You alone turned a safe weapon into a lethal weapon. But for you, Mrs. Hutchins would be alive, a husband would have his partner and a little boy would have his mother. Please take her."
A jury convicted Gutierrez Reed of involuntary manslaughter on March 6 following a nearly two-week trial. The jurors heard from weapons experts, crew members and investigators during the trial.
"First and foremost, my heart aches for the Hutchins family and friends and colleagues as well, and it has since the day this tragedy occurred," Gutierrez Reed said in her first statements made throughout the trial. "Halyna has been and always will be an inspiration to me. I understand she was taken too soon. And I pray that you all find peace. I am beyond grateful that Joel survived that terrible day. My heart goes out to the film industry for the devastating pain that this tragedy caused and the old wounds that have been reopened."
She added, "I am saddened by the way the media sensationalized our traumatic tragedy and portrayed me as a complete monster, which has actually been the total opposite of what's been in my heart."
"Your Honor, when I took on 'Rust,' I was young, and I was naive, but I took my job as seriously as I knew how to," Gutierrez Reed stated. "Despite not having proper time, resources and staffing when things got tough, I just did my best to handle it. Today, I humbly ask you to consider probation. A probation where I can continue to contribute to society through community service, and I can continue my counseling, and I welcome any classes that you may deem necessary for me to attend. I give you my word now that I would strictly follow the rules and respect the parameters of that probation. I beg you, please don't give me more time. The jury has found me in part at fault for this God awful tragedy, but that doesn't make me a monster, that makes me human."
Attorney Gloria Allred appeared on behalf of Hutchins' family during the sentencing hearing and shared statements from the cinematographer's mother, father and sister.
"My life has been split into two before and after," Allred read on behalf of Hutchins' mother. "Time does not heal. It simply prolongs my pain and suffering. I have hope that the guilty, those that are responsible for the death of my daughter, will be punished fairly and sentenced justly. Justice must prevail."
"It's extremely, extremely difficult without her. I cannot. She graduated university, and then she gave birth to a wonderful boy, my grandson," Hutchins' mother said in a video translated from Ukrainian into English. "Unfortunately, I have no ability to see him now. She was an amazing mom. She really loved her work. The day of her death ruined my entire life. It's heart-wrenching to see her child grow without his mother."
Hutchins' father's statement read: "The demise of my daughter Halyna on the 21st of October 2021 became the tragedy and biggest bitter loss of my life as well as the lives of my close loved ones. There is no way I can put into words to express the soul-crushing pain and suffering that I lived through every day. The constant state of stress, the turmoil of my soul have drained my physical strength and caused an abrupt decline of my health with continued physical pain in my heart."
Lawyers for Gutierrez Reed argued she qualified for no jail time due to her "lack of a criminal history," "personal character traits" and the armorer's young age.
Gutierrez Reed's sentencing memorandum, filed April 10, listed all the reasons that she shouldn't spend time in jail – including her father's cancer diagnosis. Up until her incarceration, Gutierrez Reed had been caring for Thell Reed, according to her legal team.
The prosecution opposed the armorer's plea for no jail time in a response filed April 12 and obtained by Fox News Digital.
Special prosecutors included summaries of Gutierrez Reed's phone calls in which she referred to the jury as "f---ing idiots." "Hannah says the jury was so f---ing stupid and they couldn't tell what was happening," Kari Morrissey wrote. "She calls the jury f---ing idiots."
"The State requests that Ms. Gutierrez be sentenced to eighteen months in the department of corrections with a designation of serious violent offender due to her recklessness in the face of knowledge that her acts were reasonably likely to result in serious harm (the standard set forth under New Mexico law)," the prosecution wrote.
The state recommended five years probation be given to Gutierrez Reed if the judge chose to grant a suspended or deferred sentence.
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The jury deliberated for less than three hours at the New Mexico courthouse on March 6. After the verdict was read, Sommer ordered Gutierrez Reed be taken into custody, where she remained until the April 15 sentencing.
The armorer was also found not guilty of evidence tampering, a charge she received in 2023 after investigators accused her of passing off a bag of cocaine on the day of the fatal set shooting.
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Gutierrez Reed's trial, which began Feb. 21, saw testimony from weapons experts, FBI and Santa Fe County authorities, and crew members who witnessed the fatal shooting.
The prosecution largely focused on Gutierrez Reed's behavior as an armorer, alleging she didn't do her job correctly.
"Hannah Gutierrez knew that Baldwin was loose. She knew it," Morrissey said during closing arguments. "She didn't do anything about it, even though it was her job. It was her job. It is her job to say to an A-list actor, if, in fact, that's what you want to call him, 'Hey, you can't behave that way with those firearms.' That is her job. That is what they pay her for. That is the job that she applied for. That is the job that she accepted."
Gutierrez Reed's legal team had told the jury that the prosecution hadn't presented enough evidence to convict the armorer of involuntary manslaughter.
Fox News Digital's Tracy Wright contributed to this report.
Original article source: Alec Baldwin's 'Rust' armorer sentenced to maximum time in fatal on-set shooting
