‘Rust’ gunsmith sentenced to 18 months for fatal shooting of Alec Baldwin – National

A movie weapons supervisor has been sentenced to 18 months in prison for Alec Baldwin’s shooting death of a cinematographer on the set of the western film. Oxideat a sentencing hearing Monday in New Mexico state court.

Film gunsmith Hannah Gutierrez-Reed was convicted in March by a jury of one count of involuntary manslaughter in the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and has been held for more than a month in a county jail outside Santa Fe. .

Baldwin, lead actor and co-producer of Oxidewas pointing a gun at Hutchins when the revolver went off, killing Hutchins and wounding director Joel Souza.

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Bodycam Footage from Baldwin ‘Rust’ Filming Shows Moments After Incident

Baldwin has pleaded not guilty to a charge of involuntary manslaughter in the shooting death of Halyna Hutchins. His trial is scheduled for July in a Santa Fe court.

The sentence against Gutiérrez-Reed was handed down by New Mexico Judge Mary Marlowe Summer, who is overseeing the trial against Baldwin.

Prosecutors blamed Gutierrez-Reed for unintentionally bringing live ammunition to the set of Oxide where it was expressly prohibited and for not following basic weapons safety protocols. After a two-week trial, the jury deliberated for about three hours to reach its verdict.

Gutierrez-Reed cried Monday when Hutchins’ agent, Craig Mizrahi, spoke about the cinematographer’s creativity and described her as a rising star in Hollywood. He said it was a chain of events that led to Hutchins’ death and that if the gunsmith had been doing her job, that chain would have been broken.

Friends and family, including Souza, told the court they were seeking justice for what had happened to the cinematographer. They said she was “a bright ray of light” and described her as brave, tenacious and compassionate.

Los Angeles-based attorney Gloria Allred read a statement from Hutchins’ mother, Olga Solovey, who said her life had been split in two and that time did not heal, but only prolonged her pain and suffering. A video of a tearful Solovey, who lives in Ukraine, was also shown in court.

“It is the most difficult thing to lose a child. There are no words to describe,” Solovey said in his native language.

Gutierrez-Reed’s defense attorneys asked for leniency in sentencing, including possible probation that would avoid further prison terms and keep an adjudication of guilt off his record if certain conditions are met.

Gutiérrez-Reed was acquitted at trial of accusations that she tampered with evidence in the Oxide investigation. He also pleaded not guilty to a separate felony charge for allegedly carrying a gun into a bar in Santa Fe where firearms are prohibited.

Defense attorneys have highlighted Gutierrez-Reed’s relatively young age “and the devastating effect a serious crime will have on his future life.”

They say the 26-year-old will always be negatively affected by the intense publicity associated with her parallel processing with a top actor and has suffered anxiety, fear and depression as a result.

Special prosecutor Kari Morrissey urged the judge to impose the maximum prison sentence and designate Gutierrez-Reed as a “serious violent offender” to limit his eligibility for a sentence reduction later, describing the defendant’s behavior on the set of Oxide as exceptionally reckless.

Morrissey told the judge Monday that he reviewed nearly 200 phone calls Gutierrez-Reed had made from jail over the past month. He said he hoped there would come a time when the accused took responsibility for what happened or expressed genuine remorse.

“That moment never came,” Morrissey said. “EM. Gutiérrez continues to refuse to accept responsibility for his role in the death of Halyna Hutchins.”

Oxide Deputy Chief and Safety Coordinator Dave Halls pleaded no contest to negligent handling of a firearm last year and completed a sentence of six months of unsupervised probation. Oxide Props master Sarah Zachry, who shared some firearms responsibilities on the set of Oxidesigned a deal with prosecutors to avoid prosecution in exchange for his cooperation.

Written testimony in favor of leniency included letters from Gutierrez-Reed’s childhood friend and romantic partner, Sean Kridelbaugh, who said Gutierrez-Reed constantly cries with remorse over the shooting and that further incarceration would interfere with efforts to care. to a family member with cancer. Other friends and former colleagues urged the judge to emphasize rehabilitation over punishment in sentencing.

The pending firearms charge against Gutierrez-Reed stems from an incident at a bar in downtown Santa Fe, days before she was hired to work as a gunsmith at Oxide. Prosecutors say investigations into the fatal shooting led to the discovery of a selfie video in which Gutierrez-Reed filmed himself carrying a firearm into the bar, while defense attorneys allege a vindictive prosecution.

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