By Morgan Lee
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 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.
Immersion In Sight, Sound and Story At Sphere
Live sports and cinematic storytelling meshed earlier this month (9/14) at Sphere, the revolutionary new entertainment venue in Las Vegas. UFC 306, Sphere’s first live sports event, brought mixed martial arts boxing matches together with the world premiere of a film--For Mexico, For All Time--which played out in six 90-second chapters in between the bouts on the UFC pay-per-view card. Each chapter focused on a different period in Mexican history and its influence on shaping Mexican identity. Shown on the massive interior display of Sphere, For Mexico, For All Time was created by filmmaker Carlos López Estrada and produced by Valerie Bush via Antigravity Academy, and co-produced by Nexus Studios. Sound designer, supervising sound editor and lead re-recording mixer Drazen Bosnjak and his team at New York-headquartered Q Department brought their creative and technical wherewithal to For Mexico, For All Time, dovetailing with the sound ensemble at Sphere and indie composer Germaine Franco. They contributed to what turned out to be the highest grossing UFC event of all time, and the highest grossing single event at Sphere, playing before a sold out crowd of 16,024. López Estrada, whose work as writer-director on Raya and the Last Dragon earned him an Oscar nomination for Best Animated Feature Film in 2022, described For Mexico, For All Time as “a larger-than-life project,” referring to its size and scope--on varied fronts. For one, Sphere houses the world’s highest resolution LED display coupled with a 167,000 speaker audio system, facilitating an immersive multi-sensory experience. López Estrada’s studio, Antigravity Academy, had a steep learning curve relative to the process of creating and producing a film that... Read More