A movie armorer was sentenced to 18 months in prison, for involuntary manslaughter in the fatal shooting of a cinematographer by Alec Baldwin on the set of a Western film, as authorities now turn their attention to prosecuting Baldwin.
A New Mexico judge found on Monday that Hannah Gutierrez-Reid’s reckless conduct amounted to a serious violent crime, with few signs of genuine remorse from the defendant since her sentencing in March. Prosecutors accused Gutierrez-Reed of unknowingly bringing live ammunition onto the set of “Rust,” where it was expressly prohibited, and of failing to follow basic gun safety protocols.
Attention now turns to Baldwin’s upcoming trial on charges of involuntary manslaughter in the October 2021 death of Halina Hutchins at a movie ranch outside Santa Fe.
Baldwin, the film’s lead actor and co-producer, was pointing a gun at Hutchison during rehearsals when the gun went off, killing him and injuring director Joel Souza. Baldwin has pleaded not guilty and says he pulled back the hammer — but not the trigger — and the gun went off.
Here are some things to know as the “rust” case against Baldwin approaches:
The sentence
Prosecutors on Monday described a “casualty of security violations” on the film’s set starting only with Gutierrez’s red.
At the sentencing, Gutierrez-Reid said she had tried to do her best on set despite not having “adequate time, resources and staff” and that she was not the monster people made her out to be. .
But Judge Mary Marlow Sommer said the maximum sentence was appropriate given Gutierrez-Reid’s recklessness. He said there was a lack of remorse and rejected defense lawyers’ pleas for leniency and a conditional discharge that would have avoided more jail time.
The judge ticked off a checklist of security failures by Gutierrez-Reed, answering his own questions.
“Did he have enough time to safely load the weapon? Enough,” the judge said. “Did you load the weapon? Yes—with dummy and live rounds. Did she check what she was loading? No.”
Halina Hutchins was missed.
Hitchens, who was 42 when she died, grew up on a remote Soviet military base and worked in documentaries in Eastern Europe before studying film in Los Angeles. A promising career in filmmaking.
During the sentencing, friends and family members described Hutchins as brave, strong and compassionate.
The courtroom eulogies also include demands for justice and punishment that will lead to greater accountability for safety on film sets.
Hutchins’ Ukrainian relatives are suing Baldwin for damages in connection with the shooting for his death. Attorney Gloria Allred is representing Hutchins’ parents and sister and says the family supports Baldwin’s criminal prosecution.
“Nobody came to me to apologize,” Hitchens’ mother, Olga Solovy, said in a tearful video shown at Gutierrez-Reid’s sentencing.
Filming of “Zing” moved to Montana after Hutchins’ death under an agreement with her husband, Matthew Hutchins, who made her an executive producer.
Baldwin was indicted.
Prosecutors dropped a first-degree involuntary manslaughter charge against Baldwin after it was revealed that the gun he was carrying had been modified and tampered with before the shooting.
A new gun analysis opened the way for prosecutors to reopen the case. A grand jury Baldwin was indicted on the same charge. in January. The indictment alleges that Baldwin caused Hutchins’ death — either through negligence or a “gross disregard or indifference” to safety.
If convicted, the charge carries a possible prison sentence of up to 18 months.
Baldwin’s defense attorneys are urging the judge to throw out the grand jury indictment, accusing prosecutors of “unfairly stacking the deck” in grand jury proceedings that included exculpatory evidence and witnesses. Distracted from.
Special prosecutors deny the allegations and accuse Baldwin of “shameless” attempts to avoid guilt, contradicting Baldwin’s statements to law enforcement, workplace safety regulators and the public in a televised interview. Highlight.
An FBI expert Testified at Gutierrez-Reed’s trial. that the revolver Baldwin used was fully functional with safety features when it arrived at the FBI laboratory; The expert said he had to hit the fully-locked gun with a mallet and break it so it would fire without pulling the trigger.
Talk from prison
Defense attorney Jason Boles said Gutierrez-Reid will appeal the judge’s decision and sentence.
“There were multiple system failures by multiple people. Some of them have come to court. … Some have yet to come before court. At least one person was tried in July,” Bowles said in sentencing. will go
Gutierrez-Reid was acquitted of tampering with evidence at trial, but still faces a separate charge on charges that he fired a gun at a downtown Santa Fe bar. had brought
At his sentencing, Gutierrez-Reed as Hitchens’ agent, Craig Mizrahi, gushed about the cinematographer’s creativity and described him as a rising star in Hollywood.
But special prosecutor Kerry Morrissey says he reviewed nearly 200 phone calls Gutierrez-Reid made from prison last month. She said she was hoping there would be a moment when the defendant would accept responsibility for Hutchins’ death or show genuine remorse but “that moment never came.”
Credit : apnews.com