Attorneys representing Hannah Gutierrez-Reed have requested a new trial on Tuesday, following the dismissal of the involuntary manslaughter case against actor Alec Baldwin by a judge. The trials were related to the 2021 shooting on the movie set of “Rust” in Santa Fe, New Mexico, where Baldwin allegedly fired a live round that tragically killed the film’s director of photography, Halyna Hutchins, and injured director/writer Joel Souza. Baldwin’s defense argued that the responsibility for safety on set lay with professionals such as armorer Gutierrez-Reed and assistant director David Halls, who were entrusted with ensuring the firearms were secure and well-managed.
In a cross-complaint filed by Baldwin’s defense, they claimed that Baldwin and others on set were unaware that live ammunition was loaded into the gun, believing it to be safe for use.
RELATED STORY | ‘Rust’ armorer sentenced to 18 months for fatal shooting on movie set
In the filing by attorney Jason Bowles, it is alleged that prosecutors engaged in severe misconduct by withholding evidence. An example was an email from Special Prosecutor Kari Morrissey informing Bowles that she did not plan to test a round as it was deemed “irrelevant.” The defense argues that these tests could have impacted the outcome of the trial.
“Justice demands that Hannah Gutierrez-Reed’s conviction be overturned immediately, ensuring that the legal system does not perpetuate this core affront to our system that has been watched all over the world,” the filing states.
Last week, the case against Baldwin was dismissed after the judge found that the prosecution had withheld evidence from the defense. Bowles pointed out that the same prosecutors who handled Baldwin’s case were also involved in Gutierrez-Reed’s case.
“The State withheld bombshell exculpatory evidence that it had a constitutional obligation to disclose and that would have resulted in a fundamentally different trial and likely a different outcome,” the filing added.
RELATED STORY | Judge dismisses involuntary manslaughter case against Alec Baldwin
Bowles spoke to Scripps News’ sister network Court TV shortly before filing the motion.
“As you saw, the judge very thoughtfully considered the evidence and the situation that developed at trial and found serious misconduct on the part of the prosecution and the discovery violation and how they treated certain evidence, putting it into a separate file and not giving it to the defense,” Bowles stated.
In April, Gutierrez-Reed was sentenced to 18 months in prison after being convicted in March of involuntary manslaughter.
