A Santa Fe judge on Tuesday denied a defense motion to throw out the “Rust” prosecution, keeping the case on track for a key hearing that begins next week.
Hannah Gutierrez Reed, the film’s armorer, faces charges of involuntary manslaughter and tampering with evidence. She is accused of loading a live round into Alec Baldwin’s gun on Oct. 21, 2021, leading to the shooting death of the film’s cinematographer, Halyna Hutchins.
If convicted on both counts, Gutierrez Reed faces up to three years in prison.
Her lawyer, Jason Bowles, filed a motion to dismiss the case, citing a series of irregularities and missteps by the prosecution. Prosecutors have already dropped charges against Baldwin, after learning that the gun may not have been functioning properly at the time of the shooting.
But at a brief hearing on Tuesday, Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer rejected the defense motion.
The defense had argued that the charges were faulty because they had originally been filed by Santa Fe D.A. Mary Carmack-Altwies. Carmack-Altwies has since recused herself from the case, after the judge ruled she could not prosecute the case alongside a special prosecutor.
Carmack-Altwies appointed two special prosecutors, Kari Morrissey and Jason Lewis, to take over. Those prosecutors have since refiled the charges, and have said they did so after conducting an independent review of the evidence.
“This was cured,” the judge said. “I think we stay the course.”
Bowles also argued that Gutierrez Reed has been subjected to pretrial publicity that has made it hard for her to get a fair trial. In particular, he took issue with the prosecution’s claim that Gutierrez Reed may have been hungover on the day of the shooting. Bowles said there is no evidence of any impairment.
Gutierrez Reed was initially charged only with involuntary manslaughter. Morrissey and Lewis added the tampering charge in June, saying they had a new witness who would testify that Gutierrez Reed had handed off a bag of cocaine after the shooting.
The prosecutors had previously indicated they would not turn over the identity of the new witness to the defense without a protective order, citing fears that the person could be blacklisted in the film industry if their identity were revealed.
Morrissey indicated on Tuesday that the witness no longer needs a protective order, and withdrew the motion seeking one.
A preliminary hearing is set to begin on Aug. 9, and is expected to run for several days. Prosecutors are expected to call numerous witnesses to show that there is enough evidence to take Gutierrez Reed to trial.
Morrissey has also not ruled out refiling charges against Baldwin. She has previously said that further testing is underway on Baldwin’s gun, and that if it turns out that the gun was working properly, he will be charged again. She said Tuesday that the results are expected by the end of the week.
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