Nicholas Gilmore
The Santa Fe New Mexican
(TNS)
Aug. 9—Rust armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed has pleaded not guilty to charges stemming from the shooting that killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on a film set south of Santa Fe in 2021.
On Wednesday, Gutierrez-Reed waived an arraignment hearing and entered a written not guilty plea to charges of involuntary manslaughter and tampering with evidence.
State District Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer set dates for the criminal trial in December, beginning with a jury selection Dec. 5.
Gutierrez-Reed — the only person who still faces charges from the incident — could receive up to three years in prison if convicted.
She was charged with involuntary manslaughter after the October 2021 fatal shooting on the Western film set. Special prosecutors added a charge of tampering with evidence in June, accusing the armorer of giving cocaine to another person.
Bodycam footage taken shortly after the shooting on the set of “Rust” showed Gutierrez was mostly worried about her career after the shooting.
“I’m like the only female armorer in the game,” she told police. When asked by police if she went to school to become an armorer, she said she was trained by her dad who is the “best in the world.”
“He trained me and I’m a f***ing failure.”
Charges against famous actor and producer Alec Baldwin, who was holding the revolver when it went off, were dropped in June. The bullet killed Hutchins and wounded director Joel Souza.
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