John Jefferson
Lawyers for convicted Rust armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed say they will move to have her case dismissed following the collapse of the prosecution of Alec Baldwin.
The Hollywood star’s involuntary manslaughter case over the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins was thrown out by a New Mexico judge on Friday afternoon.
“The judge found intentional misconduct and we also have had the same failures in Hannah’s case, by the State. We will be moving for dismissal of Hannah’s case,” said Jason Bowles, attorney for Gutierrez-Reed, following the shock collapse of Baldwin’s case.
Gutierrez-Reed was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter in March for Halnya Hutchins’ death and sentenced to 18 months in prison.
Hutchins died on the set of the Western movie when a prop gun Baldwin was holding went off during a rehearsal of the film’s shooting scene in 2021, striking and killing Hutchins and injuring director Joel Souza.
Baldwin was charged with a single felony count of involuntary manslaughter and also faced 18 months in prison if convicted.
His case was dismissed on Friday after it was found that the state had withheld evidence that could have shed light on how live rounds got onto the set.
“There is no way for the court to right this wrong,” Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer said in court adding that dismissal of the case was needed to ensure “the integrity of the judicial system.”
As the case was dismissed “with prejudice” Baldwin cannot be re-tried.
Special prosecutor Kari Morrissey said she was disappointed at the decision to dismiss the case, but when asked if she had let down the family of Hutchins, insisted, “No, we didn’t.”
“We did everything humanly possible to bring justice to Halyna and to her family and we’re proud of the work we did,” Morrissey said.
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