(UnitedVoice.com) – Alec Baldwin was rehearsing scenes for the movie “Rust” in 2021 when he allegedly pulled the trigger on a prop gun and a live round discharged. One person died, and another suffered a gunshot wound in the shooting. A jury has now found someone guilty in the case.
On March 6, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter by a Santa Fe, New Mexico, trial. The jury also determined the armorer was not guilty of evidence tampering after someone alleged she passed a small bag of drugs to another member of the crew after the incident. The judge ordered Gutierrez-Reed into custody after the jury convicted her.
The October 2021 shooting killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and injured director Joel Souza. It happened after Baldwin pointed a gun at Hutchins during a rehearsal on the movie set. The actor has said he pulled back the hammer but didn’t pull the trigger. He has also been charged with involuntary manslaughter.
The jury found that Gutierrez-Reed was negligent because she failed to check to make sure all of the rounds loaded into the weapon were dummies. The set was not supposed to have any live rounds on it. Prosecutors alleged she was the one who brought the live bullets onto the set.
During the investigation, the defendant showed a lieutenant from the sheriff’s department where she kept the ammunition and weapons. She pointed to the box of ammo that she said she took the rounds from that she loaded into the gun. The box was labeled “45 LONG COLT DUMMIES.” Law enforcement found a live round in the box; two more were on the gun cart, one was in Baldwin’s gun belt, and a fifth was in the belt of another actor.
The defense argued the armorer wasn’t at fault. Instead, they tried to blame weapons and ammo supplier Seth Kenney for the live rounds being in the gun. He denied responsibility on the stand.
Alberto Sanchez, one of the jurors, told reporters they believed the defendant brought the live rounds onto the set.
Gutierrez-Reed faces up to 18 months in prison.
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