The armorer on Alec Baldwin film “Rust” filed Tuesday to have her conviction for involuntary manslaughter overturned, days after the Hollywood star’s personal trial over a deadly on-set capturing collapsed as a consequence of withheld proof.
Baldwin was holding a revolver throughout a rehearsal for the low-budget Western film in October 2021 when a reside spherical was fired, killing cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and wounding the movie’s director.
Hannah Gutierrez, because the movie’s armorer, was answerable for sourcing dummy and clean rounds for the film set.
She by accident loaded the deadly gun with a reside spherical — the origin of which has by no means been defined — and was sentenced earlier this yr to 18 months in jail.
But throughout Baldwin’s separate trial in Santa Fe, New Mexico, final week, it emerged that police and prosecutors had suppressed doubtlessly vital proof that might have defined how reside rounds ended up on set.
Bullets that had been handed to legislation enforcement earlier this yr by a former police officer, which appeared to match the spherical that killed Hutchins, had been by no means examined by the lead detective or proven to protection attorneys — that means their origins stay unknown.
Baldwin’s case was instantly tossed by the choose, who mentioned the “intentional and deliberate” withholding of proof was “highly prejudicial to the defendant.”
Gutierrez, also called Hannah Gutierrez Reed, was already within the means of interesting her conviction previous to the Baldwin trial.
Her attorneys have now filed an expedited movement for a brand new trial or dismissal of costs as a consequence of “severe and ongoing discovery violations by the state.”
The movement mentioned prosecutor Kari Morrissey “lied to this court several times” and was “in on the decision to hide the rounds.”
It additionally alleges Morrissey withheld additional proof related to Gutierrez’s case till after her trial, together with an interview with a prop weapons provider, and stories by state firearms consultants.
“The intentional withholding of crucial evidence… has compromised the integrity of the entire judicial process,” mentioned the movement.
“Justice demands that Hannah Gutierrez Reed’s conviction be overturned immediately.”
© 2024 AFP