A New Mexico jury on Wednesday found the gunsmith from the film "Rust" guilty of involuntary manslaughter, ending the trial in the first fatal shooting on a Hollywood movie set in nearly 30 years.
On October 21, 2021, while filming of this low-budget film, produced and played by actor Alec Baldwin, was underway at Bonanza Creek Ranch in Santa Fe (New Mexico), the director of photography, Halyna Hutchins , was fatally injured by gunfire.
Alec Baldwin had pointed a weapon supposed to contain only blank bullets, but whose barrel contained a very real projectile, which had killed Halyna Hutchins and injured director Joel Souza.
Largely inexperienced
Although trained by her father, legendary gunsmith Thell Reed, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, 25 at the time of filming, was largely inexperienced in handling and supervising firearms.
The ten-day trial focused on whether this lack of experience could have put other members of the film crew and actors in danger.
During the hearings, jurors notably viewed images showing Alec Baldwin handling weapons in a dangerous manner, pointing them at other members of the team, without the gunsmith intervening.
Gutierrez's lawyer argued during the trial that the film's production company tried to cut costs by employing the young woman as both a part-time gunsmith and a props assistant for the filming of the western .
To support his claims, an expert in firearms safety on the film sets, Bryan Carpenter, confirmed that several full-time gunsmiths would have been necessary given the number of weapons used in the scenes.
The New Mexico Worker Safety Agency fined the production company $139,793 (€128,000) in 2022, the state's maximum penalty for ignoring safety guidelines. firearms of the film industry.
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“You have a practical scapegoat in front of you”, a “designated culprit”, insisted the defense lawyer, Jason Bowles.
“Responsibility lies with production, as in any organization.
It starts at the top,” he pleaded.
“She left weapons unattended all the time”
“This case involves consistent and endless security failures that resulted in the death of one human being and nearly killed another,” prosecutor Kari Morrissey responded in her closing arguments Wednesday.
According to the prosecutor, the gunsmith was once again negligent on the morning of the tragedy: she was not present when Alec Baldwin was preparing his scene, and had left the twenty weapons used by the production unsupervised.
“She left the weapon in the church” where the tragedy took place, “contrary to all the standards which govern the work of gunsmiths on the sets”, insisted the prosecutor.
“As many witnesses have told you, she left guns unattended all the time.
October 21 was nothing unusual.”
After just three hours of deliberations, the jurors - six men and six women - ruled out tampering with evidence but found her guilty of involuntary manslaughter.
Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer ordered Gutierrez immediately taken into custody.
She faces up to 18 months in prison and will receive her sentence in a few weeks.
His lawyer announced he would appeal.
Alec Baldwin will be tried next July
In his pleading, Bowles accused the production of having accused his client in order to resume filming as quickly as possible.
“What the big guys want (…) is to continue working to finish the film, to earn money,” he was indignant.
Filming of Rust resumed in April 2023, after an agreement with those close to Halyna Hutchins.
Her husband, Matthew, had become executive producer, a way of associating her with the profits of the western.
At the end of 2022, the widower dropped the civil proceedings against Alec Baldwin following an agreement, the amount of which was not disclosed.
Alec Baldwin, who fired the fatal bullet, is also charged with manslaughter.
He is due to be tried next July.
He repeatedly denied pulling the trigger, questioning the reliability of the Colt 45 replica that Gutierrez had made available to him.
Tenor of the American bar, lawyer Gloria Allred, who represents Hutchins' parents and sister, issued a statement saying that she was "pleased" with this first verdict.
“Today was the first trial and conviction in the criminal justice process,” Allred and co-counsel John Carpenter said in the release.
“We hope that the justice system continues to ensure that everyone else responsible for Halyna's death is held to face the legal consequences of their actions.
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