RustarmorerHannah Gutierrez-Reedis speaking out after news she and Alec Baldwin willboth be charged with two counts of involuntary manslaughterin the October 2021 on-set death ofHalyna Hutchins.
On Thursday, Jason Bowles and Todd J. Bullion, attorneys for 25-year-old Gutierrez-Reed, said in a statement: “Hannah is, and has always been, very emotional and sad about this tragic accident. But she did not commit involuntary manslaughter.”
Santa Fe County District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies and special prosecutor Andrea Reeb announced the upcoming charges on Thursday, Reeb noted that “if any one of these three people — Alec Baldwin, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed or David Halls — had done their job, Halyna Hutchins would be alive today.”
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“It’s that simple,” the prosecutor added. “The evidence clearly shows a pattern of criminal disregard for safety on theRustfilm set. In New Mexico, there is no room for film sets that don’t take our state’s commitment to gun safety and public safety seriously.”
The charges will be formally filed before the end of the month.
Hannah Gutierrez-Reed.TheImageDirect.com
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Baldwin’s attorney Luke Nikas said in a statement Thursday, “This decision distorts Halyna Hutchins' tragic death and represents a terrible miscarriage of justice. Mr. Baldwin had no reason to believe there was a live bullet in the gun — or anywhere on the movie set. He relied on the professionals with whom he worked, who assured him the gun did not have live rounds.We will fight these charges, and we will win.”
An attorney for assistant director David Halls, who signed a plea agreement for the charge of negligent use of a deadly weapon, said in a statement, “Mr. Halls accepted a petty misdemeanor charge. Absent no charges at all, this is the best outcome for Mr. Halls and the case. He can now put this matter behind him and allow the focus of this tragedy to be on the shooting victims and changing the industry so this type of accident will never happen again. His charge is a petty misdemeanor. No jail time. Unsupervised probation. $500 fine. Mr. Halls denies handing a firearm to Mr. Baldwin.”
Alec Baldwin; Halyna Hutchins.Jesse Grant/Getty; Anthony Harvey/Getty Images
In November, Baldwinfiled a cross-complaint in the Los Angeles County Superior Court that listed Gutierrez-Reed, assistant director Halls, prop masterSarah Zachryand armorer assistantSeth Kenneyas among those who “owed a duty to those on set, including Baldwin, to keep the set safe. Everyone on set, including Baldwin, expected and trusted them to do so.”
“This tragedy happened because live bullets were delivered to the set and loaded into the gun, Gutierrez-Reed failed to check the bullets or the gun carefully, Halls failed to check the gun carefully and yet announced the gun was safe before handing it to Baldwin, and Zachry failed to disclose that Gutierrez-Reed had been acting recklessly off set and was a safety risk to those around her,” the filing alleged at the time.
source: people.com
