SANTA FE, N.M. — A New Mexico jury discovered “Rust” armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed responsible of involuntary manslaughter and never responsible of tampering with proof Wednesday after having deliberated for about 2½ hours.
Gutierrez-Reed, 26, faces as much as 18 months in state jail when she is sentenced later. A decide ordered that she be taken into custody and held till her sentencing.
Gutierrez-Reed confirmed little emotion because the jury foreperson learn the verdicts. She took off a necklace earlier than a deputy took her into custody. Her mom, seated behind her, put her fingers on her head and bent ahead because the decide ordered her daughter remanded into custody pending sentencing.
The almost two-week prison trial centered on the taking pictures on the “Rust” movie set in 2021, when actor Alec Baldwin held a prop gun that fired a reside spherical of ammunition, killing the movie’s cinematographer, Halyna Hutchins. The bullet additionally injured director Joel Souza.
Throughout the prosecution’s closing arguments Wednesday, particular prosecutor Kari T. Morrissey instructed the jury that Gutierrez-Reed “was negligent, she was careless, she was inconsiderate.”
Morrissey additionally mentioned that after the deadly taking pictures, Gutierrez-Reed was extra “fearful about her profession” and fewer concerning the victims.
However Gutierrez-Reed’s lawyer, Jason Bowles, mentioned the prosecutors had not proved past an affordable doubt that Gutierrez-Reed was answerable for taking reside rounds onto the set and alleged that Baldwin was in the end answerable for Hutchins’ demise.
“I undergo you what triggered her to move was Mr. Baldwin going off-script and pointing the weapon,” Bowles mentioned.
Baldwin didn’t know there was a reside spherical within the gun, and “no one knew there was ever going to be a reside spherical on that set,” Bowles instructed jurors.
“However the one final act is the pointing of that weapon. Ms. Gutierrez wasn’t within the church, she didn’t level that weapon, she didn’t pull it,” he mentioned.
The prosecution additionally referred to as out Baldwin as a “prima donna.”
“Alec Baldwin’s conduct and his lack of gun security within the church that day is one thing he’s going to must reply for. … Not with you not in the present day. That’s for one more jury for one more day.”
Baldwin’s authorized workforce didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark. His prison trial begins in July.
Juror Albert Sanchez mentioned “just about not checking the weapons” was a significant factor in his choice within the Gutierrez-Reed case.
“Simply handing them over, like ‘right here.’ Not checking — that was an enormous deal,” Sanchez mentioned. “I imply, you’ll be able to’t try this. And in case you have reside rounds there and also you don’t even understand it?”
Sanchez mentioned there was not a lot disagreement amongst jurors. On the tampering with proof cost, which concerned cocaine, Sanchez mentioned that “we didn’t simply assume it was needed” and that “there was nothing there.”
First Judicial District Legal professional Mary Carmack-Altwies, who appointed particular prosecutors within the intently watched case, referred to as Hutchins’ demise a “tragic and fully preventable case” after the decision.
She mentioned in an announcement that prosecutors’ “sole pursuits had been to convey justice to Halyna Hutchins’ household and mates and to make sure that these answerable for her demise had been held accountable.”
All through the trial, a collection of eyewitnesses who had been on the set took the stand, together with Souza, who recounted what it was wish to be shot and the confusion that ensued.
“Nothing made sense,” Souza mentioned final week. He mentioned he remembered wanting up at Gutierrez-Reed after the incident and listening to her repeatedly say, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, Joel.”
Souza described the sensation of being shot as if somebody had “taken a baseball bat to my shoulder.”
However he mentioned that he didn’t notice he had been injured by a reside spherical of ammunition and that when medical personnel knowledgeable him on the hospital, “it couldn’t compute for me,” Souza mentioned.
Dave Halls, the movie’s security coordinator, who pleaded no contest to negligent use of a lethal weapon final 12 months as a part of a plea deal, additionally took the stand. It was the primary time he had spoken publicly about what occurred that day. He emotionally testified that he ought to have checked the gun extra completely, admitting that he “did an improper examine of that firearm.”
Halls went on to say he didn’t recall seeing Gutierrez-Reed spin your entire cylinder round to make sure all the bullets had been dummy rounds. Wiping away tears, he mentioned, “I let a security examine move.”
Throughout opening statements, one other particular prosecutor, Jason Lewis, referred to as Gutierrez-Reed’s conduct on the set “sloppy” and “unprofessional.”
“We imagine that it was the negligent acts and failures of the defendant … that contributed to Ms. Hutchins’ demise,” he mentioned.
Morrissey and Lewis had been appointed particular prosecutors in March 2023 after the earlier particular prosecutor resigned.
Bowles requested Wednesday in courtroom that Gutierrez-Reed be allowed to stay free pending sentencing, saying she has voluntarily appeared at each listening to and courtroom look.
Decide Mary Marlowe Sommer declined and ordered her held.
“The explanation why I’m going to remand you is you at the moment are convicted, and this can be a demise,” Sommer mentioned. “It’s prison negligence, but it surely’s nonetheless a demise.”
A sentencing date was not set earlier than the courtroom went into recess, however Bowles mentioned that he had time for the sentencing in April.
Bowles mentioned Gutierrez-Reed will enchantment.
Attorneys representing Hutchins’ dad and mom and sister mentioned in an announcement that the relations “have at all times needed everybody who’s answerable for Halyna’s demise to be held accountable.”
“We look ahead to the justice system persevering with to make it possible for everybody else who’s answerable for Halyna’s demise is required to face the authorized penalties for his or her actions,” mentioned attorneys Gloria Allred and John Carpenter, who characterize dad and mom Olga Solovey and Anatolli Androsovych, in addition to sister Svetlana Zemko.
Dana Griffin and Sumiko Moots reported from Santa Fe and Chloe Melas from New York Metropolis.
CORRECTION (March 6, 2024, 7:55 p.m. ET): A earlier model of this text misstated how lengthy Hannah Gutierrez-Reed might be sentenced to state jail. She faces as much as 18 months, not three years.