One of the jurors who found Rust armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed guilty of involuntary manslaughter is speaking out about the jury’s reasoning for doing so.
Gutierrez-Reed, who loaded a gun containing live ammunition that went off in actor Alec Baldwin’s hand killing cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, was convicted of involuntary manslaughter on Wednesday.
Juror Alberto Sanchez told reporters outside of the courtroom that he and the rest of the jury had come to an easy decision, finding that Gutierrez-Reed had failed to properly check all the rounds that she loaded into Baldwin’s prop gun were dummies rather than live rounds.
Juror Speaks on Rust Guilty Verdict
“That was her job to check those rounds and those firearms,” he said, adding that Gutierrez-Reed “never did the safety checks. Never checked the rounds to pull them out to look at them, shake them. If you’d have done that, this wouldn’t have happened.”
Gutierrez-Reed was taken into custody to await sentencing. She faces up to 18 months in prison, according to The New York Times
Her involuntary manslaughter conviction is the first verdict a jury has reached in Hutchins death, and may serve as a blueprint for how Baldwin’s own involuntary manslaughter trial could play out in July as well.
Gutierrez-Reed has denied being the one responsible for loading the live ammunition into the gun that killed Hutchins. In addition to the involuntary manslaughter charge, Gutierrez-Reed was also charged with tampering with evidence, for which she was found not-guilty.
The shooting occurred on Oct. 21, 2021, when Baldwin, Hutchins, and director Joel Souza were going over a scene for the Western movie in a wooden church on the film’s set outside of Santa Fe, New Mexico. Baldwin, who has denied pulling the trigger, was acting out part of the scene when a live round discharged from a prop gun he was holding that was supposed to contain only dummy rounds. Hutchins was mortally wounded, and Souza was also wounded but recovered.
Baldwin and the film’s other producers have denied any wrongdoing, and Baldwin’s attorneys have said that he believed the gun he was holding held only dummy rounds, which cannot be fired.
Also Read: Expert Witness in Rust Shooting Trial Points Gun Toward Judge Before Bailiff Intervenes
Baldwin’s road to his upcoming trial has had its ups and downs. Prosecutors dropped involuntary manslaughter charges against Baldwin in 2023, but he was recharged in January 2024.
In October 2022, the producers of Rust and star Alec Baldwin reached a settlement with the estate of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, who was killed when a gun Baldwin was holding accidentally discharged with live ammunition, Deadline reported.
“We have reached a settlement, subject to court approval, for our wrongful death case against the producers of Rust, including Alec Baldwin and Rust Movie Productions, LLC,” announced Halyna Hutchins’ husband, Matthew Hutchins. “As part of that settlement, our case will be dismissed. The filming of Rust, which I will now executive produce, will resume with all the original principal players on board in January 2023. I have no interest in engaging in recriminations or attribution of blame (to the producers or Mr. Baldwin). All of us believe Halyna’s death was a terrible accident. I am grateful that the producers and the entertainment community have come together to pay tribute to Halyna’s final work.”
Matthew Hutchins also expressed his intention to finish the film, boarding as an executive producer, noting that he believes his wife’s death was an accident.
“The filming of Rust, which I will now executive produce, will resume with all the original principal players on board in January 2023. I have no interest in engaging in recriminations or attribution of blame (to the producers or Mr. Baldwin). All of us believe Halyna’s death was a terrible accident. I am grateful that the producers and the entertainment community have come together to pay tribute to Halyna’s final work,” he added.
Baldwin finished filming the movie last year, and producers said they hoped its completion would honor Hutchins’ work.
Main Image: Rust juror Alberto Sanchez speaks to reporters outside of courtroom. Credit: Albuquerque news station KOAT 7
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