It has been nearly two years since the tragic on-set incident on Alec Baldwin's western film Rust that led to the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins. In that time a great deal of legal action, both civil and criminal, has transpired. What remains as the only criminal action resulting from the incident is moving forward, as armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed has entered a plea in the involuntary manslaughter case against her.
Gutierrez has pled not guilty to two counts of manslaughter, involuntary manslaughter, and involuntary manslaughter in the commission of a lawful. Each charge carries a possible 18-month sentence. Jury selection in the case is set to begin on December 5. The armorer remains out on bail, though she is not allowed to handle any firearms as a condition of her bail. In a statement to People, her lawyers stated…
Ms. Gutierrez has pled not guilty to all charges and is preparing for her day in court. She looks forward to her day in court, and to having the conduct of everyone on set fully examined.
While not laying out the defense’s case directly, the statement seems to indicate that the plan will be to try and show that the problems on the set of the Western film Rust that led to the death of Halyna Hutchins were not the fault of Gutierrez.
The case against the armorer hinges on the question of how the live ammunition ended up in the pistol on set. Gutierrez has maintained that she does not know how that happened. In statements from her attorneys in the days following the incident, it was stated that Gutierrez has been denied the training she had asked for, had been overworked due to being on set as both an armorer and a props assistant, and that there was a lack of safety meetings on set.
In October 2021 on the set of Rust in New Mexico actor Alec Baldwin fired a gun that, rather than containing blanks, was loaded with live ammunition. The gun discharged, hitting both Hutchins and the film’s director Joel Souza. Souza survived his injuries but Hutchins was killed.
In the ensuing months, an investigation was undertaken attempting to understand how the on-set pistol was not only loaded with live ammunition but how it went off. Both Guiterrez and Alec Baldwin were originally charged with manslaughter. The charges against Baldwin were dropped before trial, as it was discovered that the gun may have malfunctioned, which would mitigate Baldwin’s blame. However, prosecutors have made it clear that as the investigation into the incident continues, charges could be refiled. Baldwin has consistently argued that he never pulled the trigger on the gun.
Production on Rust, which also co-stars Jensen Ackles stopped following Hutchins' death but it was restarted and production wrapped earlier this year.
