A New Mexico judge told attorneys to «stay the course» on charges including involuntary manslaughter against a movie weapons supervisor in the 2021 shooting death of a cinematographer by Alec Baldwin during a rehearsal for the film «Rust,» rejecting on Tuesday a request from defense counsel to dismiss charges.
— A New Mexico judge told attorneys to “stay the course” on charges including involuntary manslaughter against a movie weapons supervisor in the 2021 shooting death of a cinematographer by Alec Baldwin during a rehearsal for the film “Rust,” rejecting on Tuesday a request from defense counsel to dismiss charges.
The ruling from Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer during online proceedings sets the stage for lengthy evidentiary hearings, starting next week, on manslaughter and evidence-tampering charges against movie armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed. She is the sole remaining defendant in the fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins during the filming of “Rust” on Oct. 21, 2021.
In April, prosecutors dropped charges against Baldwin, who was pointing a gun at Hutchins when it went off, killing her and injuring director Joel Souza. This left Gutierrez-Reed as the sole remaining defendant in the case. If convicted, she faces up to three years in prison.
An attorney for Gutierrez-Reed argued unsuccessfully Tuesday that the case had been compromised by changes in the prosecution team earlier this year, sloppiness with evidence and public statements by prosecutors that might interfere with the right to an impartial jury.
