Rust armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed has filed a motion seeking a new trial or a dismissal of her case following new ballistics evidence and "egregious prosecutorial misconduct" revealed during Alec Baldwin's trial last week.
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| Hannah Gutierrez-Reed GABRIELA CAMPOS - POOL/GETTY IMAGES |
"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," states the motion, which was submitted to Santa Fe’s First Judicial District Court on July 16.
Gutierrez-Reed is currently serving an 18-month prison sentence for the 2021 shooting death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, after being found guilty of involuntary manslaughter by a Santa Fe jury on March 6.
On July 12, a New Mexico judge dismissed Baldwin’s involuntary manslaughter case following a dramatic hearing where Baldwin’s attorneys argued that Rust prosecutor Kari Morrissey had withheld key evidence—several bullets turned over to Santa Fe sheriffs in March but never disclosed to Baldwin.
“This Court stated on July 12 that the integrity of the judicial system demanded that the Court dismiss Mr. Baldwin’s case with prejudice,” wrote the armorer’s attorneys, Jason Bowles and Monnica L. Barreras, in their motion. “How can it be any different with Ms. Gutierrez-Reed’s case?”
Gutierrez-Reed’s attorneys also requested the removal of Morrissey as special prosecutor. The dismissal of Baldwin’s case followed the revelation that Troy Teske, a retired Arizona police officer, had walked into the Santa Fe sheriff’s department immediately after Gutierrez-Reed was found guilty in March and turned in ammunition he claimed came from the same source as the bullet that killed Hutchins.
The sheriff’s department’s possession of these rounds was not disclosed to Baldwin, nor were the bullets presented at the defense’s evidence viewing on April 16, according to his attorneys.
Gutierrez-Reed’s attorneys assert they were aware of the rounds Teske turned over in March, hoping the sheriff’s department would analyze them while Gutierrez-Reed pursued her appeal. However, they claim the State instead placed the bullets in a separate case file in an attempt to conceal them, according to the motion.
Following the dismissal of Baldwin’s case, Morrissey addressed reporters outside the Santa Fe courthouse, stating, “I respect the court’s decision. But there is absolutely no evidence that any of that ammunition was related to the incident with Ms. Hutchins.”
Gutierrez-Reed’s legal team contends that the ammunition from Teske is just one example of withheld evidence. They also mention withheld interviews with key witnesses such as Seth Kenney, Rust’s props ammunition supplier, and the state’s firearms experts Lucien C. Haag and Michael G. Haag.
“The repeated failures in discovery fall short of what Ms. Gutierrez-Reed deserved,” the filing asserts. “And for her, the consequences have been devastating.”
Gutierrez-Reed’s motion marks the latest legal development in the ongoing fallout from the Rust tragedy, which includes ongoing civil lawsuits against Baldwin and the other producers of the indie Western film.
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