An attorney for convicted “Rust” movie armorer Hannah Gutierrez Reed has filed a motion for a new trial or to have her case thrown out, after the related case against actor Alec Baldwin was dismissed in dramatic fashion last week, CNN reported.
The attorneys filed the motion on Tuesday in Santa Fe First Judicial District Court, citing “egregious prosecutorial misconduct” and multiple allegations of “severe and ongoing discovery violations by the State.”
Gutierrez’s attorneys request the court order her prison release and the removal of Kari Morrissey as the special prosecutor “for the misconduct that has been found, and the violations committed in Ms. Gutierrez Reed’s case.”
This past Friday, the involuntary manslaughter case against actor Alec Baldwin was dismissed after the judge overseeing the case ruled prosecutors did not properly turn over evidence to the defense.
Legal experts said the collapse of the actor’s case could result in Gutierrez Reed being freed from the New Mexico state prison where she’s serving an 18-month sentence following her conviction in March of involuntary manslaughter in the on-set fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins in October of 2021.
The shooting occurred while Baldwin was on the set at a ranch outside Santa Fe practicing a “cross draw” with a prop gun. He pulled it from a holster on the opposite side of his body from his draw hand – when it fired a live round, killing Hutchins and injuring director Joel Souza.
As the armorer, Gutierrez Reed was responsible for firearm safety and storage. At her trial, prosecutors argued she repeatedly violated safety protocol and acted without caution in performing her duties, ultimately leading to Hutchins’ death.
Gutierrez Reed’s defense attorney argued she has been scapegoated for the safety failures of film set management and other crew members.
Baldwin, who had pleaded not guilty, said he was directed to point the gun toward the camera, he cocked it, and it "went off" on its own.