OAN Staff Abril Elfi
3:19 PM – Monday, September 30, 2024
A judge has ruled that Hannah Gutierrez-Reed will remain behind bars for the “Rust” movie armorer’s case.
On Monday, Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer ruled that Reed’s conviction still holds even though she had previously determined that the prosecution suppressed evidence in the involuntary manslaughter case against “Rust” star and producer Alec Baldwin and dismissed his case.
“With respect to the Defendant’s arguments concerning her request for release pending appeal, the Court finds that Defendant has not established by clear and convincing evidence that Defendant is not likely to flee or pose a danger to the safety of any other person or the community if released,” stated Sommer.
Jason Bowles, Reed’s attorney, spoke with NBC and said they will be appealing the decision. Reed already has a separate appeal of her conviction pending in a higher court.
During rehearsals on the set of “Rust” on October 21st, 2021, what was initially assumed to be a prop gun was “accidentally” discharged.
Baldwin was holding the firearm when it went off.
The film’s cinematographer, Halyna Hutchins, tragically died as a result of the gun being fired. Additionally, Director Joel Souza was badly injured as well.
Reed’s job required her to be in charge of the safe handling protocols of all guns on set. However, her legal defense argued that Hutchins’s death was caused by Baldwin, as he “went off script” by pulling the trigger.
Following the shocking mid-trial dismissal of Baldwin’s charges in July, Reed’s attorneys filed a motion to dismiss the charge against her, which led to the judge’s decision.
It was disclosed during Baldwin’s trial that Troy Teske, a former police officer and friend of Reed’s stepfather, had given the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office Colt. 45 rounds that were purportedly taken from the Western movie set.
However, with approval from Kari Morrissey, the special prosecutor for New Mexico, it was cataloged separately rather than being filed by the sheriff’s office with their current evidence or informing Baldwin’s legal team.
Due to this, Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer dismissed Baldwin’s case, citing the prosecutors in New Mexico’s failure to disclose relevant evidence as a Brady Law violation.
“There is no way for the court to right this wrong. The sanction of dismissal is the only warranted remedy,” Sommer said of her decision at the time.
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