Hannah Gutierrez, the weapons manager for the “Rust ” video, was ordered by a New Mexico determine on Monday to provide the maximum sentence for her role in the unintentional shooting death of the western film’s director in New Mexico two and a half years earlier.
In March, a Santa Fe, New Mexico, jury found Gutierrez, 26, guilty of involuntary manslaughter in Halyna Hutchins ’ death during a rehearsal for a scene with Alec Baldwin, who was pointing his prop gun at her when it discharged. According to the prosecution, Gutierrez brought the live ammunition to the set of the movie and loaded it into Baldwin’s gun.
At an emotional sentencing hearing Monday, in the same Santa Fe courtroom where Gutierrez’s trial unfolded, friends of Hutchins described her joy, generosity, determination and talent — and their sorrow by her death. The testimony, including from her family in Ukraine, underscored the on-set safety lapses that led to the fatal accident and the profound loss felt by friends, family members and fellow filmmakers.
Gutierrez, wearing a prison jumpsuit, sobbed at times during Monday’s hearing. She requested that the judge give her probation rather than jail time for the felony conviction, and she claimed that the media had depicted her as a monster rather than the naive and inexperienced crew member who was trying her best. She said that she was sorry.
However, Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer of the New Mexico 1st District Court was unconvincing, claiming Gutierrez has shown little remorse.
“You were the armorer, the one that stood between a safe weapon and a weapon that could kill someone, ” Marlowe Sommer told Gutierrez. You alone transformed a harmless object into a deadly object. But for you, Ms. Hutchins would still be alive, his partner would be his, and his mother would be the little boy. ”
The October 2021 shooting shined a harsh light on film set safety, particularly on low-budget productions. The case drew worldwide attention, in large part, because of Baldwin’s stature in Hollywood and as a political lightning rod. Additionally, Bradley has been accused of involuntary manslaughter, and his trial is scheduled for July in Santa Fe. He has pleaded not guilty.
Gutierrez and her team have long argued that she was unfairly to blame for the accident when others took the blame for on-set safety blunders. Prior to the fatal shooting, members of the “Rust ” camera crew had abruptly left their jobs to protest safety concerns and the lack of nearby housing.
Gutierrez had little experience; “Rust ” was just her second job as head armorer.
“Film producers are responsible to ensure the cast and crew members hired are experienced enough to handle their jobs, ” Hutchins ’ agent, Craig Mizrahi, said Monday during Monday’s hearing, which was televised by Court TV.
When the producers made the decision to put the safety of their cast and crew on the back burner, Mizrahi said,” They made a crucial decision when they hired someone with virtually no experience to serve as both the armor, as well as the assistant prop master, which are both very challenging positions in their own right,” she said.
Famed victims’ rights attorney Gloria Allred was on hand to read statements from Hutchins ’ family in Ukraine. Speaker after speaker, including the film’s director, Joel Souza, who was injured by the same bullet, talked about how the shooting had profoundly affected them, and they remain filled with sorrow to this day.
“Halyna was a force. … She was one of my favorite people in the world, ” Jen White, a friend, testified through a video link. In the wake of this entirely preventable tragedy, I feel like she has gotten lost in the jumble of all the finger-pointing and blame. ”
Gutierrez has long acknowledged loading Baldwin’s gun with what she thought were inert “dummy ” rounds. Baldwin has described how he was pointing his prop pistol as he was practicing an upcoming scene. a fully operational Colt 45 revolver — at Hutchins, unaware that an actual bullet was one of six rounds packed inside the chamber.
Defense attorneys pleaded for leniency by claiming Gutierrez was eligible for a conditional release program because the shooting was an accident and Gutierrez had no prior criminal record. But the judge said she did n’t deserve such treatment.
In Gutierrez ‘ case, the prosecution alleged that he had shown little remorse for Hutchins ‘ death.
“Ms. Gutierrez continues to deny responsibility and blame others ” for Hutchins ’ death, special prosecutor Kari T. Morrissey filed a court document late last week. Morrissey said on Monday that she was n’t sure what to do with Gutierrez until last week when she began digging through her mother’s, boyfriend’s, and paralegal’s phone calls.
During this process, it was my sincere hope that there would be a time when Ms. Morrissey said that Gutierrez acknowledged that he felt some genuine regrets. And it has never been here. ”
The judge also cited the jail conversations that supported her decision to place Gutierrez on probation or to the county jail as a state prison.
Gutierrez’s attorney Jason Bowles strongly disagreed with the prosecutors ’ conclusions.
“Ms. Gutierrez Reed has experienced real grief and regret as a result of these tragic events, ” Bowles wrote on Sunday in advance of the sentencing hearing. She has largely experienced this in private and has sought counseling to manage her feelings and mental breakdowns. ”
In the case of Hutchins ‘ death, New Mexico prosecutors have secured the second conviction.
Last year, “Rust ” assistant director David Halls pleaded no contest to one count of negligent use of a deadly weapon in the tragedy. Baldwin had received the gun that day and had declared it safe. He received a suspended six-month sentence of unsupervised probation. He has been on the  and testified against Gutierrez at her trial; witness list for Baldwin’s case.
Gutierrez’s lawyer, Bowles, has provided his services pro bono since taking the case in 2021.
Thell Reed, Gutierrez’s stepfather, attempted to set up a GoFundMe account last week to raise money to pay Gutierrez’s legal bills during an appeal, but the site removed the family’s post because its policy prohibits fundraisers for legal defenses for violent crimes.
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