A New Mexico judge has ruled that Hannah Gutierrez, the weapons handler in the ill-fated western movie “Rust,” must remain in prison for her role in the fatal shooting of the film’s cinematographer.
New Mexico 1st Judicial District Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer on Monday denied a request to free Gutierrez from prison or schedule a new trial to weigh the evidence after revelations of alleged missteps by a special prosecutor.
Gutierrez’s attorney Jason Bowles said he would appeal the decision.
Gutierrez has served nearly seven months of her 18-month prison sentence for her involuntary manslaughter conviction in the accidental 2021 shooting death of Halyna Hutchins.
Gutierrez has acknowledged loading actor Alec Baldwin’s prop gun. In March, a 12-member Santa Fe County jury found Gutierrez guilty of the felony charge after a two-week trial that delved into on-set safety issues and lingering trauma for those who witnessed the shooting.
Special prosecutor Kari T. Morrissey argued that Gutierrez brought live rounds of ammunition to the set from her home in Arizona, an allegation Gutierrez denied. Baldwin was pointing the weapon at Hutchins while preparing for a scene when the revolver discharged. Hutchins died from her wound; the film’s director, Joel Souza, also was shot but recovered.
The judge took another look at Gutierrez’s conviction after New Mexico’s prosecution of Baldwin collapsed over the summer amid allegations of misconduct by Morrissey and Santa Fe County sheriff’s deputies.
Marlowe Sommer dismissed the case against Baldwin, who was facing an involuntary manslaughter charge, after a dramatic daylong hearing in July. The judge was furious with Morrissey and other county officials after learning that evidence, which could have been helpful to Baldwin’s defense, had been concealed from the actor’s attorneys.
The disputed evidence included a bag of ammunition, some of which matched the fatal bullet in the shooting. Morrissey argued that the ammunition was not relevant to Baldwin’s case.
After Baldwin was cleared, Bowles argued that his client was entitled to a new trial or a dismissal of her case due to such “prosecutorial misconduct.”
Last week, Bowles presented his reasoning to the judge, saying additional evidence — including a supplemental report from the state’s ballistics expert and an interview with the weapons and ammunition provider — was not provided to the defense team as it prepared for Gutierrez’s trial. The failure to disclose such materials deprived Gutierrez of her rights, Bowles argued.
The judge was not swayed.
“Defendant has been convicted of a felony involving a firearm and resulting in the death of Ms. Halyna Hutchins,” Marlowe Sommer wrote in Monday’s order, adding that Gutierrez had acted in a reckless manner that “allowed a fatal gunshot to occur.”
