New trial denied for ‘Rust’ armorer convicted in deadly taking pictures of cinematographer by Alec Baldwin

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — A New Mexico choose on Friday rejected an effort by a film set armorer to problem her conviction of involuntary manslaughter within the 2021 deadly taking pictures of a cinematographer by Alec Baldwin on the set of the Western movie “Rust.”

After listening to temporary arguments throughout a digital listening to, Santa Fe-based Decide Mary Marlowe Sommer mentioned she can be staying the course and that armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed would stay in custody pending her sentencing in April.

Gutierrez-Reed was convicted by a jury in early March within the October 2021 taking pictures on the outskirts of Santa Fe, New Mexico, throughout a rehearsal. Baldwin was indicted by a grand jury in January and has pleaded not responsible to an involuntary manslaughter cost, with trial set for July.

Protection attorneys for Gutierrez-Reed had filed a request earlier this month for a brand new trial and urged the choose to launch their consumer from jail as deliberations proceeded. Legal professional Jason Bowles informed the choose Friday that his consumer had no violations throughout the trial, takes care of her father and has been in counseling.

“She hasn’t achieved something unsuitable. She’s not a hazard or a flight danger,” he mentioned.

The choose responded: “Bear in mind there was a dying that the jury decided was attributable to her so I’m not releasing her.”

Involuntary manslaughter carries a sentence of as much as 18 months in jail and a $5,000 advantageous. Gutierrez-Reed is being held on the Santa Fe County Grownup Detention Facility.

In courtroom filings, protection attorneys asserted that the jury directions within the case might confuse jurors and result in a nonunanimous verdict. Comparable objections to the jury directions had been rejected at trial, however Bowles on Friday introduced up a brand new ruling from the New Mexico Supreme Court docket in an unrelated case that addressed conditions when jurors have two or extra particular acts to contemplate when deliberating a cost.

Within the case of Gutierrez-Reed, he defined that one act was loading a stay spherical within the gun used on set and the opposite was the accusation that she didn’t carry out an satisfactory security test of the firearm. He was unsuccessful in his argument that jurors ought to have had separate directions for every act.

Gutierrez-Reed could possibly be sentenced as quickly as April 15 below present scheduling orders.

Baldwin was pointing a gun at cinematographer Halyna Hutchins when the revolver went off, killing Hutchins and wounding director Joel Souza.

Baldwin has maintained that he pulled again the gun’s hammer, however not the set off. Testimony by an impartial gun professional throughout Gutierrez-Reed’s trial forged doubt on Baldwin’s account that his gun went off with out pulling the set off.

Prosecutors blamed Gutierrez-Reed for unwittingly bringing stay ammunition onto the set of “Rust” the place it was expressly prohibited. Additionally they mentioned she didn’t observe primary gun security protocols.

“Rust” assistant director and security coordinator Dave Halls final 12 months pleaded no contest to negligent dealing with of a firearm and accomplished a sentence of six months unsupervised probation.