JULY 11, 2024:
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Prosecutors sought to cast Alec Baldwin as someone who flouts rules and has little regard for safety at the first day (July 10, 2024) of his New Mexico trial in the shooting of a cinematographer. Special prosecutor Erlinda Ocampo Johnson repeatedly referred to Baldwin playing “make-believe” with a revolver on the set of the film “Rust.” She said it led to very real danger and the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins. Baldwin’s attorney, Alex Spiro, told jurors that the actor did only what actors always do — act like the characters they’re playing. He called the death an “unspeakable tragedy,” but said Baldwin had committed no crime.
JULY 9, 2024:
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Alec Baldwin’s trial in the fatal shooting of a cinematographer is about to begin. Jury selection starts Tuesday (July 9, 2024) in Santa Fe, New Mexico, in the actor’s trial on a charge of involuntary manslaughter that could get him 18 months in prison. The judge and attorneys in the case say they expect the 12 jurors will be seated in one day and opening statements can begin on Wednesday. Jurors will be tasked with deciding whether Baldwin committed a felony when a gun he was pointing at cinematographer Halyna Hutchins during a rehearsal for the film “Rust” went off and killed her in 2021.
MAY 17, 2024:
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — A New Mexico judge is considering whether to dismiss a grand jury indictment against actor Alec Baldwin in the fatal shooting on the set of the Western movie “Rust.” There’s a virtual court hearing Friday (May 17, 2024) on the motion to dismiss the case. Defense attorneys for Baldwin accuse prosecutors of unfair maneuvers at grand jury proceedings to divert attention away from exculpatory evidence and witnesses. A grand jury indictment in January charged Baldwin with involuntary manslaughter in the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins at a movie ranch on the outskirts of Santa Fe in October 2021. Baldwin has pleaded not guilty.
APRIL 15, 2024, UPDATE:
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — A movie weapons supervisor has been sentenced to 18 months in prison for the fatal shooting of a cinematographer by Alec Baldwin on the set of the Western film “Rust.” A New Mexico judge announced the sentence Monday (April 15, 2024) against movie armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed. The judge said had it not been for the armorer’s recklessness, Halyna Hutchins would be alive. A tearful Gutierrez-Reed was unsuccessful in her plea for a lesser punishment. The armorer’s two-week trial and conviction was a prelude to the proceedings against Alec Baldwin, who has pleaded not guilty to a charge of involuntary manslaughter in the death of Halyna Hutchins. He is scheduled for trial in July.
APRIL 15, 2024:
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — A movie weapons supervisor is facing a possible sentence of up to 18 months in prison in the fatal shooting of a cinematographer by Alec Baldwin on the set of the Western film “Rust.” Movie armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed has been incarcerated at a county jail ahead of Monday’s scheduled sentencing hearing on a involuntary manslaughter conviction. The armorer’s two-week trial was a prelude to the proceedings against Alec Baldwin, who has pleaded not guilty to a charge of involuntary manslaughter in the shooting death of Halyna Hutchins. He is scheduled for trial in July at a courthouse in Santa Fe.
MARCH 8, 2024:
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — A jury convicted a movie weapons supervisor of involuntary manslaughter Wednesday (March 6, 2024) in the fatal shooting of a cinematographer by actor Alec Baldwin during a rehearsal on the set of the Western movie “Rust.”
The verdict against movie armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed assigned new blame in the October 2021 shooting death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins after an assistant director last year pleaded no contest to negligent handling of a firearm.
Gutierrez-Reed also had faced a second charge of tampering with evidence, stemming from accusations that she handed a small bag of possible narcotics to another crew member after the shooting to avoid detection. She was found not guilty on that count.
Immediately after the verdict was read in court, the judge ordered the 26-year-old armorer placed into the custody of deputies. Lead attorney Jason Bowles said afterward that Gutierrez-Reed will appeal the conviction, which carries a penalty of up to 18 months in prison and a $5,000 fine.
Santa Fe-based state district court Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer did not immediately set a sentencing date.
Baldwin, the lead actor and a co-producer on “Rust,” was indicted by a grand jury in January on a charge of involuntary manslaughter. He was pointing a gun at Hutchins on a movie set outside Santa Fe, New Mexico, when the gun went off, killing the cinematographer and wounding director Joel Souza.
The trial was a preamble to Baldwin’s trial scheduled in July. He has pleaded not guilty.
Messages seeking comment about Wednesday’s verdict from Baldwin’s spokeswoman and a lawyer were not immediately returned.
Prosecutors said at trial that Gutierrez-Reed unknowingly brought live ammunition onto the movie set, and it remained there for at least 12 days before the fatal shooting, giving the armorer plenty of time to remove it.
In closing arguments, prosecutor Kari Morrissey described “constant, never-ending safety failures” on the set of “Rust” and Gutierrez-Reed’s “astonishing lack of diligence” with gun safety.
“We end exactly where we began — in the pursuit of justice for Halyna Hutchins,” Morrissey told jurors. “Hannah Gutierrez failed to maintain firearms safety, making a fatal accident willful and foreseeable.”
Prosecutors also contended that the armorer repeatedly skipped or skimped on standard gun-safety protocols that might have detected the live rounds.
“This was a game of Russian roulette every time an actor had a gun with dummies,” Morrissey said.
An attorney for Hutchins’ parents and sister issued a statement expressing their satisfaction with Wednesday’s verdict.
“Today was the first trial and conviction in the criminal justice process,” said the statement from Gloria Allred on behalf of parents Olga Solovey and Anatolli Androsovych and Hutchins’ sister, Svetlana Zemko. “We look forward to the justice system continuing to make sure that everyone else who is responsible for Halyna’s death is required to face the legal consequences.”
Inside the courtroom Wednesday, Gutierrez-Reed’s mother reacted with dismay at the conviction, bursting into tears and cursing the proceedings as her daughter was led away.
Defense attorneys told jurors that the problems on the set extended far beyond Gutierrez-Reed’s control, including the mishandling of weapons by Baldwin, citing sanctions and findings by state workplace safety investigators.
The defense also cast doubt on accusations that Gutierrez-Reed brought live rounds to the set and said an Albuquerque-based ammunition supplier was never fully investigated.
Juror Alberto Sanchez said Gutierrez-Reed could have paused work on the set to address safety issues. Jurors concluded she brought live ammunition on set, whether she knew it or not, Sanchez said outside of court after jurors were dismissed.
“Pretty much it was just that (she) never did the safety checks,” said Sanchez, whose work nearby in Los Alamos has involved safety decisions. “Never checked the rounds, to pull them out to shake them. I mean, if she’d have done that this wouldn’t have happened.”
Bowles, the defense attorney, had told jurors that no one in the cast and crew thought there were live rounds on set and Gutierrez-Reed could not have foreseen that Baldwin would “go off-script” when he pointed the revolver at Hutchins. Investigators found no video recordings of the shooting.
“It was not in the script for Mr. Baldwin to point the weapon,” Bowles said. “She didn’t know that Mr. Baldwin was going to do what he did.”
To drive the point home, Bowles played a video outtake from another day in which Baldwin fired a revolver loaded with blanks — including a shot after a director calls “cut.”
On the day of the shooting, Bowles said, Gutierrez-Reed alone was segregated in a police car away from others, becoming a convenient scapegoat.
“You had a production company on a shoestring budget, an A-list actor that was really running the show,” Bowles said. “At the end, they had somebody they could all blame.”
Dozens of witnesses had testified during the 10-day trial, from FBI experts in firearms and crime-scene forensics to a camera dolly operator who described the fatal gunshot and watching Hutchins go flush and lose feeling in her legs before death.
The prosecution painstakingly assembled photographic evidence it said traced the arrival and spread of live rounds on set and argued that Gutierrez-Reed repeatedly missed opportunities to ensure safety and treated basic gun protocols as optional.
The defense had cast doubt on the relevance of photographs of ammunition, noting FBI testimony that live rounds can’t be fully distinguished from dummy ones on sight.
Prosecutors said six live rounds found on set bear mostly identical characteristics and don’t match live rounds seized from the movie’s supplier in Albuquerque. Defense attorneys said the cluttered supply office was not searched until a month after the shooting, undermining the significance of physical evidence.
JANUARY 20, 2024:
Extended version:
JULY 20, 2023:
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — The former weapons supervisor on the set of the movie “Rust” won’t have to take a drug test as she confronts felony charges of evidence tampering and involuntary manslaughter in the on-set shooting death of a cinematographer by actor Alec Baldwin.
A New Mexico district court judge on Wednesday (July 19, 2023) dismissed a request from prosecutors to test Hannah Gutierrez-Reed for illegal drugs, calling it “an ambush” against her defense lawyers.
Prosecutors say Gutierrez-Reed passed narcotics to another person to avoid legal consequences in the immediate aftermath of the fatal shooting in October 2021, while contending in court documents that the armorer was likely hungover on the day a live bullet was placed into the gun Baldwin used.
Defense attorney Jason Bowles said the drug use allegations are unsubstantiated and undocumented.
It’s still unclear how several live rounds of ammunition got on set. Prosecutors say they have some evidence to support the theory that Gutierrez-Reed may be responsible for the introduction of the rounds.
Wednesday’s hearing, held online, was the first for a recently filed felony charge against Gutierrez-Reed of tampering with evidence in the shooting, which killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and wounded director Joel Souza.
State District Court Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer advised Gutierrez-Reed of her legal rights on the evidence-tampering charge, which carries a possible penalty of up to 18 months in prison. Gutierrez-Reed did not enter a plea.
An involuntary manslaughter charge against Baldwin was dropped in April. The actor was pointing a gun at Hutchins when it went off, killing her. Baldwin has said the gun fired accidentally after he followed instructions to aim it toward Hutchins, who was behind the camera.
Evidentiary hearings may take place as soon as August to determine whether the case against Gutierrez-Reed advances toward trial.
Additionally, Gutierrez-Reed still has access to guns as a self-defense measure against threats — something prosecutors raised as a concern during Wednesday’s online court hearing.
“We have a person who is a substance user who is in possession of firearms,” said special prosecutor Kari Morrissey.
Gutierrez-Reed’s lawyers say prosecutors are resorting to “character assassination” to prop up their involuntary manslaughter case.
The filming of “Rust” resumed in April in Montana under an agreement with the cinematographer’s widower, Matthew Hutchins, that makes him an executive producer. Souza says he returned to directing “Rust” to honor the legacy of Halyna Hutchins.
JUNE 23, 2023:
UNDATED (AP)- The weapons supervisor charged with involuntary manslaughter in the shooting death of a cinematographer on the set of the Alec Baldwin film “Rust” has been charged with passing drugs to someone else on the day of the shooting. Prosecutors in New Mexico filed the new charge Thursday (June 22, 2023), alleging Hannah Gutierrez-Reed tampered with evidence by transferring narcotics to another person to avoid prosecution. Gutierrez-Reed’s lawyer calls the charge “retaliatory and vindictive.” Gutierrez-Reed is the only remaining defendant in the case. An involuntary manslaughter charge was dropped in April against Baldwin, who was pointing a gun at cinematographer Halyna Hutchins when it went off and killed her.
JUNE 14, 2023:
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Prosecutors are accusing the weapons supervisor on the film set where Alec Baldwin shot and killed a cinematographer of drinking and smoking marijuana in the evenings during the filming of “Rust.” They say she was likely hungover when she loaded a live bullet into the revolver. They leveled the accusations Friday (June 9, 2023) in response to a motion filed last month by Hannah Gutierrez-Reed’s attorneys that seeks to dismiss her involuntary manslaughter charge. Gutierrez-Reed’s attorney said Tuesday that the prosecution’s case is weak and they’re resorting to character assassination claims. Prosecutors also said in the filing that they expect to decide within the next 60 days whether to recharge Baldwin.
APRIL 20, 2023:
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Prosecutors in New Mexico will dismiss an involuntary manslaughter charge against actor Alec Baldwin in the fatal 2021 shooting of a cinematographer on the set of the Western film “Rust.” A status conference was scheduled for Friday (April 21, 2023) in state District Court about next steps in the case. Special prosecutors Kari Morrisey and Jason Lewis say their investigation is not over and Baldwin has not been absolved. The film’s weapons supervisor Hannah Gutierrez-Reed is still charged with involuntary manslaughter in the shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins. Baldwin was pointing a pistol at Hutchins during a rehearsal when it when off, killing her and wounding director Joel Souza.
APRIL 18, 2023:
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — A New Mexico judge is sealing from public view the terms of a proposed settlement agreement in a wrongful death lawsuit involving actor Alec Baldwin. At a court hearing Monday (April 17, 2023), a judge agreed keep confidential the terms the agreement to settle a wrongful death lawsuit brought by Hutchins’ widower and 10-year-old son against “Rust” producers including Baldwin. Baldwin was pointing a pistol at cinematographer Halyna Hutchins during a rehearsal on the film’s set outside Santa Fe in 2021 when the gun went off, killing her and wounding the director. Separately, Baldwin and the film’s weapons supervisor are charged with involuntary manslaughter.
FEBRUARY 20, 2023:
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — New court filings show prosecutors have dropped the possibility of a sentence enhancement that could have carried a mandatory five-year sentence against Alec Baldwin in a fatal film-set shooting. The actor-producer’s attorneys had earlier objected to the enhancement they said was unconstitutional because it was added after the October 2021 shooting. The amended complaint filed Friday in New Mexico was made public Monday (Feb. 20, 2023). Baldwin and weapons supervisor Hannah Gutierrez-Reed were charged last month with felony involuntary manslaughter in the shooting death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins during rehearsals for the film “Rust” at a ranch on the outskirts of Santa Fe.
JANUARY 31, 2023, UPDATE:
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — A Santa Fe district attorney has filed involuntary manslaughter charges against actor Alec Baldwin in the fatal shooting of a cinematographer on the set of the Western movie “Rust.” Santa Fe District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies announced that her office filed the charges Tuesday (Jan. 31, 2023). She previously had said the charges would be forthcoming. Halyna Hutchins died shortly after being wounded during rehearsals at a ranch on the outskirts of Santa Fe in October 2021. Baldwin was pointing a pistol at her when the gun went off. Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, who supervised weapons on the set, also is charged with involuntary manslaughter.
JANUARY 31, 2023:
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Prosecutors are scheduled to file involuntary manslaughter charges in connection with the fatal shooting of a cinematographer by actor Alec Baldwin during a rehearsal on the set of a Western movie in 2021. Prosecutors say they will file in court and make public felony charges against Baldwin and weapons supervisor Hannah Gutierrez-Reed that could carry penalties of up to five years in prison. Prosecutors also said they will release a signed plea agreement with assistant director David Halls. Halls oversaw safety on the set. Baldwin has described the killing as a tragic accident and says he was told the gun was safe.
JANUARY 20, 2023, UPDATE:
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Prosecutors vow to file two manslaughter charges against actor Alec Baldwin and a weapons supervisor in the fatal 2021 shooting of a cinematographer on the set of a Western movie. The looming charges have set in motion evidentiary proceedings and a reckoning for film set safety and the handling of firearms. One charge is for negligence. Another is for reckless disregard “without due caution and circumspection” and carries a five-year minimum sentence. Halyna Hutchins died shortly after being wounded during rehearsals at a ranch on the outskirts of Santa Fe. Authorities say Baldwin was pointing a pistol at her when he cocked the hammer and fired.
JANUARY 20, 2023:
LOS ANGELES (AP) — As actor Alec Baldwin faces a charge of involuntary manslaughter in the shooting death of a cinematographer on a New Mexico, gun safety on sets remains at the forefront of many in Hollywood. Joey Dillon, who supervises weapons in TV and film, says that since the shooting he has become more vocal during productions on the status of guns being put into actors hands. And he says the actors are double checking the weapons themselves much more. But Baldwin’s attorney and union both said Thursday (Jan. 19, 2023) that actors cannot be expected to make this a job responsibility, and should not be made a criminal if they fail at it.
JANUARY 19, 2023:
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — A Santa Fe district attorney is prepared to announce whether to press charges in the fatal 2021 film-set shooting of a cinematographer by actor Alec Baldwin during a rehearsal on the set of the Western movie “Rust.” Santa Fe District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies says a decision will be announced Thursday (Jan. 19, 2023) in a statement and on social media platforms. Cinematographer Halyna Hutchins died shortly after being shot during setup for a scene at a filmset ranch on the outskirts of Santa Fe on Oct. 21, 2021.
NOVEMBER 12, 2022:
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Saying he wants to clear his name, Alec Baldwin is suing people involved in handling and supplying the loaded gun that he was using when it fired and killed a crew member last year during filming of the movie “Rust.” The shooting was ruled an accident. Baldwin on Friday (Nov. 11, 20220) sued in Los Angeles, alleging negligence by the armorer, gun supplier and others. Baldwin was rehearsing with a gun on the New Mexico set when it fired, killing cinematographer Halyna Hutchins. Baldwin has said he was told the gun was safe and didn’t know it held a live round. Baldwin says he’s been “wrongly viewed as the perpetrator of this tragedy.” Last month, Hutchins’ family announced it had agreed to settle a lawsuit against the actor.
OCTOBER 5, 2022:
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The family of a cinematographer shot and killed by Alec Baldwin on the set of the film “Rust” has agreed to settle a lawsuit against Baldwin and the movie’s producers, and production may resume on the project in January 2023. Matthew Hutchins, widow of the cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, says in a statement that a settlement agreement has been reached in the New Mexico lawsuit. Matthew Hutchins says filming will resume on “Rust” in January, with the same principal players as before. New Mexico regulators say the production company has failed to pay a fine for safety violations, and have scheduled a hearing for April. Baldwin, Halyna Hutchins and others were setting up a shot inside a chapel on set when the gun he was holding went off in October 2021.
AUGUST 4, 2022:
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — A New Mexico prosecutor says her office will decide whether criminal charges will be filed in the fatal film-set shooting of a cinematographer by actor Alec Baldwin once the investigation is complete. District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies said in a statement issued Wednesday (Aug. 3, 2022) that her office has received only portions of the investigation from the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office. Still outstanding is forensic analysis of the weapon, data from Baldwin’s cell phone and more from the FBI and state medical examiners. In records released since the October 2021 shooting, investigators described complacency, disorganization and neglected safety measures in the making of the low-budget movie “Rust.”
APRIL 27, 2022:
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — The New Mexico sheriff investigating the fatal film-set shooting of a cinematographer by actor Alec Baldwin described complacency, disorganization and neglected safety measures in the making of the low-budget movie “Rust.” The vast trove of newly released law enforcement files include lapel camera video of the mortally wounded Hutchins slipping in and out of consciousness as an evacuation helicopter arrives. Witness interrogations, email threads, text conversations, inventories of ammunition and hundreds of photographs round out the collection of evidence. The sheriff says he is waiting on a forensic analysis before turning the 6-month-old case over to prosecutors to decide whether criminal charges will be filed.
UPDATE APRIL 26, 2022:
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Law enforcement officials have released a trove of video and photographic evidence in the investigation of a fatal October shooting of a cinematographer by actor and producer Alec Baldwin on the set of a Western movie. Data files released by the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office on Monday (April 25, 2022) included videos of investigators debriefing Baldwin on the day of the shooting inside a compact office as well as apparent rehearsal clips that show the actor in costume as he practices a quick-draw maneuver with a gun. Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza said the investigation remains open and ongoing as it awaits the results of ballistics analysis from the FBI.
UPDATE JANUARY 17, 2022:
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Alec Baldwin has surrendered his cellphone as part of the investigation into a fatal shooting on a New Mexico film set last fall. A Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office spokesman says Baldwin’s phone was turned over Friday to authorities in New York’s Suffolk County and that information from the phone will be provided to investigators. They obtained a search warrant last month for the phone’s contents in their investigation into the Oct. 21 shooting on set for “Rust.” Baldwin was an actor and co-producer for the production. Authorities have said Baldwin’s prop revolver discharged a live round during a rehearsal, killing cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and wounding director Joel Souza.
UPDATE JANUARY 13, 2022:
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — A new lawsuit accuses an ammunition supplier of creating dangerous conditions on a movie set where a gun held by actor Alec Baldwin killed a cinematographer, by including live ammunition in a box that was supposed to include only dummy rounds. The lawsuit was filed in New Mexico state district court by Hannah Gutierrez Reed, the armorer who oversaw firearms, ammunition and related training on the set of “Rust” alongside two assistants. Cinematographer Halyna Hutchins died on Oct. 21, 2021, from a gunshot wound during a “Rust” rehearsal at a ranch on the outskirts of Santa Fe in northern New Mexico.
UPDATE DECEMBER 3, 2021:
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Alec Baldwin says someone is responsible for the shooting on a New Mexico film set that killed a cinematographer, but it’s not him. In an ABC interview with George Stephanopoulos that aired Thursday (Dec. 2, 2021) night, Baldwin said he would do anything to undo what happened, but he’s not the person who put the live bullet in the gun, leading to the death of Halyna Hutchins. Baldwin said it was Hutchins herself who directed him to point the gun at her that they both believed was empty on Oct. 21 on the set of the Western “Rust.”
UPDATE DECEMBER 1, 2021:
NEW YORK (AP) — ABC News has released a clip in which Alec Baldwin tells George Stephanopoulos that he did not pull the trigger on a gun that went off on a New Mexico film set, killing a cinematographer. The interview will air as a prime-time special Thursday on ABC and will stream later on Hulu. Baldwin fired a prop gun that had been loaded with live ammunition. The cinematographer was killed and the film’s director was injured. It is the first time Baldwin has spoken in depth on screen about the shooting. ABC News says it will do a more in-depth report on the investigation into the killing next week on “20/20.”
ORIGINAL STORY DECEMBER 1, 2021:
NEW YORK (AP) — Alec Baldwin will talk about the deadly shooting in October on the set of the movie “Rust” in an interview with George Stephanopoulos of ABC News. The interview will air as a prime-time special Thursday (Dec. 2, 2021) on ABC and will stream later on Hulu. Baldwin fired a prop gun that had been loaded with live ammunition. A cinematographer was killed and the film’s director was injured. It will be the first time Baldwin has spoken in depth on screen about the shooting. ABC News says it will do a more in-depth report on the investigation into the killing next week on “20/20.”
