By Attorneys representing Hannah Gutierrez, the chief weapons handler on the set of the film “Rust,” filed a compelling request on Thursday, alleging that state prosecutors deliberately withheld critical evidence favorable to her during the manslaughter trial.
The legal maneuver comes on the eve of a pivotal court decision where a New Mexico judge is set to rule on Friday regarding Alec Baldwin’s bid to dismiss a manslaughter charge against him following the fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins during the production of “Rust” in 2021.
Central to Gutierrez’s defense is a revelation from her attorney, Jason Bowles, who asserted that state prosecutors possessed a report from their own firearms experts. This report purportedly highlighted “unexplained toolmarks on critical surfaces of the trigger and sear” of the gun used on the movie set. According to Bowles, this evidence suggests the possibility that the firearm could have accidentally discharged, a contention both Baldwin’s and Gutierrez’s defense teams have argued.
In light of this alleged suppression of exculpatory evidence, Bowles petitioned for Gutierrez’s immediate release from prison pending a retrial, emphasizing that had this information been disclosed earlier, it could have substantially altered the trial’s trajectory and potentially led to a different verdict.
The revelation surfaced during recent evidentiary hearings related to Baldwin’s defense, described by Bowles as a “bombshell” revelation that challenges the integrity of the initial trial proceedings.
As of the filing, state prosecutors had not responded to requests for comment after regular business hours. During the recent evidentiary hearings in Baldwin’s case, a state weapons expert conceded discrepancies in his initial assessments, initially suggesting that certain marks on the gun may not have been caused during testing by the FBI, only to revise his findings later.
Earlier this year, Gutierrez, 27, was convicted of involuntary manslaughter for her role in the tragic incident, where a live round mistakenly loaded into a revolver being handled by Baldwin resulted in the death of Halyna Hutchins. Gutierrez was subsequently sentenced to 18 months in prison in April.
The fatal shooting at the “Rust” movie set has sent shockwaves through Hollywood, marking a rare instance in recent history where a member of a film crew or cast lost their life due to an accidental discharge from a prop firearm.
Alec Baldwin’s trial is scheduled to commence on July 10, following a grand jury indictment in January on charges of involuntary manslaughter stemming from the incident.
