Rust armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed wants charges dismissed or a new trial

Rust armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed is currently serving an 18-month prison sentence for her role in the death of cinematographer Haylna Hutchins, but after Alec Baldwn’s case was recently dismissed, she has filed a motion for her charges to be dismissed as well or to be given a new 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,” reads the motion from Gutierrez-Reed’s attorneys Jason Bowles and Monnica L. Barreras. “This Court stated on July 12 that the integrity of the judicial system demanded that the Court dismiss Mr. Baldwin’s case with prejudice. How can it be any different with Ms. Gutierrez-Reed’s case?“

Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer dismissed Baldwin’s case after learning that special prosecutor Kari Morrissey had withheld evidence. After Gutierrez-Reed was found guilty in March, a retired Arizona police officer turned in bullets that he claimed came from the same source as the bullet which killed Hutchins. Although Baldwin and his team were unaware of the bullets, Gutierrez-Reed’s attorneys did know about them. They had hoped that the sheriff’s department would analyze the bullets, but they did not. “Instead, the State placed them in a separate case file and attempted to hide them,” reads the motion.

The attorneys added that the bullets aren’t the only thing withheld from them, as interviews with several key witnesses were also kept under wraps. “The repeated discovery failures are certainly beneath what Ms. Gutierrez-Reed deserved,” the filing says. “And for her, the impact has been devastating.“

After Gutierrez-Reed was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter for her part in Hutchins’ death, her defence team filed motions for her to be released from jail and be given a new trial, but Judge Sommer denied them. “You alone turned a safe weapon into a lethal weapon,” Judge Sommer said to Gutierrez-Reed during her sentencing. “But for you, Ms. Hutchins would be alive, a husband would have his partner and a little boy would have his mother.“

Will Hannah Gutierrez-Reed be granted a new trial or even have the charges dismissed? Time will tell.