Hannah Gutierrez Reed
Luis Sanchez Saturno – Pool/Getty Images
Hannah Gutierrez Reed rust The armorer who killed Alec Baldwin by loading a live bullet into the gun he was holding at the time of the shooting has been sentenced to 18 months in prison for manslaughter.
The sentence handed down by Santa Fe Judge Mary Sommer on Monday came after a jury found Gutierrez-Reed guilty, making her the first crew member to be convicted for her role in the accidental shooting death of Halina Hutchins. It became.
Manslaughter in New Mexico is punishable by up to 18 months in prison and a fine of up to $5,000. Prosecutors asked for a term limit. Gutierrez-Reed has been held at the Santa Fe Adult Detention Center since March, when he was found guilty of manslaughter but not evidence tampering. Last month, Sommer refused permission for a new trial and also rejected a motion to free the armorer while he appeals his conviction.
During the hearing, Sommer spoke of the lack of remorse expressed by Gutierrez-Reed in a monitored phone call while awaiting sentencing.
“In her own words, she didn’t have to shake a dummy all the time,” Sommer said. she emphasized. “You were an armorer, and you stood between a safe weapon and a weapon that could kill someone. You were the only one who turned a safe weapon into a deadly weapon. But to you, Mr. Hutchins was a life force. The husband will have a partner and the little boy will have a mother.”
Before sentencing, Gutierrez-Reed, 26, asked for probation rather than serving time. She addressed the court.
“First and foremost, my heart aches for Hutchins’ family, friends, and colleagues since this tragedy occurred,” she said, adding that he was “young and naive” when he accepted the job as an armorer. However, he added, “I accepted my job as an armorer.” I thought about it seriously because I knew how to do it, even though I “didn’t have the right time, resources, or staffing.” The armorer concluded: “While the jury found me partly to blame for this terrible tragedy, that doesn’t make me a monster; it makes me human.”
At the hearing, lead prosecutor Kari Morrissey urged the judge to impose the maximum sentence allowed for the “set of violations” that led to Hutchins’ death. He said Gutierrez-Reed “continues to refuse to accept responsibility for her role” and cited nearly 200 phone calls that prosecutors monitored after she was taken into custody.
“Rather than admit responsibility, she will hold accountable the witnesses who testified against her, me, you, the jury, the medics at the scene, and the paramedics who tried to save Mr. Hutchins’ life. ,” Morrissey said. She moved to designate the armorer as a “serious violent offender” to limit her eligibility for a reduced sentence.
Sommer said Gutierrez-Reed told her in that call that the armorer primarily viewed the prosecution as a “personal attack on her” and was “denying” her role in the shooting. . Gutierrez-Reed also allegedly said, without evidence, that the judge was “paying off.”
Gutierrez-Reed was sentenced to 12 months in the Santa Fe Adult Detention Center, followed by the option of serving the remainder of his sentence on probation. Sommer chose to impose the maximum sentence allowed.
Craig Mizrahi, Hutchins’ attorney at Innovative Artists, also spoke at the sentencing, accusing the producer of cutting corners on safety and hiring an inexperienced armorer at Gutierrez-Reid, and saying that he was not satisfied with the work. He said he should have refused. He added that the shooting was not a “simple accident” but “a series of events that led to someone’s murder” and that “it could have been resolved if the armorer had done the job he was hired to do.” .
Coach Joel Souza, who was injured in the shooting, blamed “Ms. Souza” for the incident. Failure to lead that day. ”
Relatives and friends of the armorer also spoke about the impact Hutchins had on their lives and urged the court to impose the maximum sentence. “We don’t want this to be seen as an unpunished accident,” said Hutchins’ sister, Olga Solovey, who spoke via pre-recorded video from Ukraine.
Gloria Allred, who is representing Hutchins’ parents and sister in the lawsuit against Last Movie Productions, read a statement from the cinematographer’s father about “systemic and serious violations of safety regulations” during the filming of the film. rust.
Some of Hutchins’ colleagues in the film industry said the ruling sends a message to the industry to improve safety on sets. Amnak Rabanal, a friend of Hutchins, said he hoped the decision would serve as a “rallying point for the systemic changes needed” to stop production lapses, adding that crew members were She said it was an “unnecessary cog in the machine”.
Jen White, another friend of the cinematographer, said Gutierrez-Reid was the “catalyst” that led to widespread negligence and misfires on the low-budget western.
The shooting occurred on October 21, 2021, when an old-fashioned revolver that Alec Baldwin was rehearsing for a cross-draw went off while he was practicing drawing a prop gun. A Colt .45 revolver was handed to him by assistant director David Halls, but Halls said there was no live ammunition in it. As he was practicing drawing operations, a bullet was fired in Hutchins’ direction, killing him. After the incident, five live rounds were found mixed in with dummy bullets on the set. How they ended up on set remains unclear, as Gutierrez-Reid rejected her plea deal in exchange for admitting that she introduced them.
Before sentencing, Gutierrez-Reed’s father, Sel Reed, a veteran armorer, insisted his daughter never brought live ammunition to the set. He blamed ammunition supplier Seth Kenney and prop master Sarah Zachry.
At trial, prosecutors argued that Gutierrez-Reed, who had said he believed Baldwin’s gun was loaded with “dummy” bullets, was careless in handling firearms and ammunition on the set of the low-budget western movie. did. She was also accused of bringing her live ammunition onto the set and failing to follow her safety procedures.
The defense, on the other hand, centered on the argument that Gutierrez-Reid was made the scapegoat for major safety issues that were out of control on set. Jason Bowles, who represented the armorer, specifically blamed Baldwin, one of the film’s more than a dozen producers. She plans to appeal the conviction.
Baldwin faces a trial on charges of manslaughter, scheduled to begin in July. Last week, prosecutors alleged in a court filing that Baldwin, the show’s producer, said: rust, endangering others by failing to provide initial training with a firearm; He arrived at the scene a week after filming began, but was given another session instead, where prosecutors claimed he was “negligent.” He was also accused of hiring an inexperienced armorer on Gutierrez-Reed and pulling the trigger of a gun at a scene where he was only expected to pull a gun from a holster.
“To see Mr. Baldwin’s behavior on set.” rust “We are witnessing a man with no control over his emotions and no concern for how his actions affect those around him,” the response to Baldwin’s motion for removal states.
Mr. Gutierrez-Reed’s sentence may provide an indication of the possible sentence for Mr. Baldwin if he is convicted.
“Finding sympathy for Baldwin will not be easy for his defense team, but his lawyers insist Baldwin doesn’t have a loaded gun and try to minimize his role as a producer on set. “But the prosecution will refute that,” Kelly Clough said. Former appellate attorney in Illinois. “After a conviction, prosecutors typically seek the maximum penalty, so if a jury finds him guilty, a manslaughter conviction could result in an 18-month prison sentence.”
The armorer’s conviction and sentence could also help establish criminal liability in the future in the event of product injury due to negligence.
Last year, Halls was sentenced to six months of unsupervised probation as part of a plea deal for his role in the shooting. He was charged with a misdemeanor count of negligent use of a deadly weapon. His lawyers had argued that he was not responsible for overseeing firearms and that his only responsibility was to ensure safety meetings were held.
