A court date has been set on August 9 for a New Mexico judge to consider evidence against Rust film armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, who faces involuntary manslaughter charges over the fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of Alec Baldwin‘s low budget movie Rust in Bonanza City, New Mexico on October 21, 2021. On Thursday, those same charges were dropped against the actor.
According to the New York Post, prosecutors with the Santa Fe District Attorney’s Office have accused Gutierrez-Reed, who was responsible for the guns and ammunition on set, with a “sloppy mishandling of firearms.”
Gutierrez-Reed pleaded not guilty when the charges were first brought against her on January 31.
On the day of the shooting, a live round was loaded in Baldwin’s Colt .45 revolver, a weapon for which the armorer was responsible. After the weapon was loaded, prosecutors allege Gutierrez-Reed exited the church where the scene was being shot.
The hearing, scheduled for August 9 through August 16, will allow prosecutors to bring forward witnesses for cross-examination by the defense, enabling the judge to decide if the trial should move forward.
Rust was Gutierrez-Reed’s second movie as an armorer although she is the daughter of Hollywood veteran armorer Thell Reed.
The New York Post reports that police gathered text messages from Reed that indicated she had attempted to use live ammunition on the set of her previous film.
On the Rust set, dummy rounds and live rounds were found together, a violation of safety standards.
The charges against Baldwin were dropped without prejudice, meaning special prosecutors Jason Lewis and Kari Morrissey could reopen the case against the actor.
In October 2022, Baldwin settled with Hutchins’ estate, son, and husband Matthew Hutchins, in a wrongful death suit. Another lawsuit filed by Hutchin’s parents, Olga Solovey and Anatolii Androsovych, as well as her sister, Svetlana Zemko in February is still pending. Baldwin has asked that it be tossed.
