SANTA FE.- The jury declared culpable to gunsmith Hannah Gutierrez-Reed of homicide guilty for the fatal shooting of a cinematographer by actor Alec Baldwin during a rehearsal on the set of the film Rust.
The verdict against Gutierrez-Reed assigned new blame in the shooting death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins in October 2021, after an assistant director declared last year that he did not contest the charge of careless handling of a weapon. of fire.
Gutierrez-Reed also faced a second charge, tampering with evidence, stemming from allegations that she handed a small bag of possible narcotics to another crew member after the shooting to avoid detection. She was found not guilty of that charge.
Immediately after the verdict was read in court, the judge ordered the 26-year-old gunsmith to be taken into police custody. Lead attorney Jason Bowles later said Gutierrez-Reed will appeal the guilty plea, which carries a penalty of up to 18 months in prison and a $5,000 fine.
Involuntary manslaughter
Baldwin, lead actor and co-producer of Rust, was indicted in January by a grand jury on a charge of involuntary manslaughter. He was pointing a gun at Hutchins on the set of the cowboy movie outside Santa Fe, New Mexico, when the gun went off, killing the cinematographer and wounding director Joel Souza.
The trial in Santa Fe was a preamble to the actor’s scheduled trial in July on the single charge of involuntary manslaughter. Baldwin has pleaded not guilty. Baldwin’s spokeswoman and his attorney did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment on the verdict.
Prosecutors previously said Gutierrez-Reed unintentionally brought live bullets to the set of Rust at a ranch, claiming the bullets were there for at least 12 days until the fatal shot occurred.
Constant and endless security failures in Rust
In presenting her closing arguments, prosecutor Kari Morrissey described constant and unending security failures on the set of Rust and Gutierrez-Reed’s astonishing lack of care for gun safety.
“We end up exactly where we started: in the search for justice for Halyna Hutchins,” Morrissey told the jury. Hannah Gutierrez did not maintain safety in the use of firearms, which resulted in a fatal accident being deliberate and foreseeable.
Prosecutors maintain that the gun store repeatedly omitted or flouted standard firearms safety protocols that could have detected real bullets.
This was a game of Russian roulette every time an actor had a gun with blanks, Morrissey said.
FUENTE: AP
