Prosecutor opposes ’Rust’ armorer’s request for release as she seeks new trial for set shooting

Special prosecutor opposes release of former movie armorer during appeal of involuntary manslaughter conviction in Rust shooting case.

A special prosecutor is opposing a request by a former movie armorer that she be released from prison while seeking a new trial and appeal of her involuntary manslaughter conviction in a 2021 shooting on the set of the film Rust.

Kari Morrissey wrote in a response brief filed Friday that Hannah Gutierrez-Reed’s motion for release “is premature given that the court has yet to receive completed briefing on the defendant’s motion for new trial, hear arguments on the defendant’s motion and rule on the motion in defendant’s favor.”

Lawyers for Gutierrez-Reed have argued her case should be reconsidered because prosecutors failed to share evidence that might have been exculpatory.

Gutierrez-Reed wants a judge to dismiss her conviction or convene a new trial in the shooting death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins by actor Alec Baldwin.

Baldwin, the lead actor and co-producer for Rust, was pointing a gun at Hutchins during a rehearsal on a movie set outside Santa Fe in October 2021 when the revolver went off, killing Hutchins and wounding director Joel Souza.

Gutierrez-Reed already has an appeal pending in a higher court on the involuntary manslaughter conviction.

She was convicted by a jury in March in a trial overseen by Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer, who later assigned the maximum 18-month penalty.