A judge has upheld the involuntary manslaughter conviction of the weapons supervisor for the film Rust.
Hannah Gutierrez, 27, who is nearly six months into an 18-month sentence over the fatal shooting on set of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, had requested a retrial or dismissal following allegations that police and prosecutors withheld potential evidence.
However, Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer upheld her conviction on Monday, saying Gutierrez’s lawyers had failed to establish the outcome of the trial would have been any different if the evidence had been available.
The New Mexico judge also rejected a request from Gutierrez that she be released from custody. She currently has an appeal of the conviction pending in a higher court.
Earlier this summer, an involuntary manslaughter trial against actor Alec Baldwin was dramatically dismissed by the same judge after just three days due to concerns over the evidence.
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The actor was holding a gun that went off on the set of the Western film Rust in New Mexico in 2021, killing cinematographer Ms Hutchins and wounding director Joel Souza.
The 66-year-old actor denied involuntary manslaughter, maintaining he did not pull the gun’s trigger and that others on the set were responsible for safety checks on the weapon.
Baldwin’s defence team learnt that the Santa Fe sheriff’s office had taken possession of live rounds as potential evidence earlier this year, on the same day Gutierrez was convicted.
Investigators did not list these live rounds in the Rust file, nor were they disclosed to defence lawyers. Prosecutors said the ammunition was not connected to the case and was not hidden.
Kari Morrissey, who is the lead prosecutor in both the Baldwin and Gutierrez cases, claimed Baldwin’s case was “improperly dismissed,” and said the judge “misunderstood” the evidence.
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Prosecutors blamed Gutierrez for unwittingly bringing live ammunition onto the set of Rust and for failing to follow basic gun safety protocols.
She was acquitted at trial of allegations she tampered with evidence in the Rust investigation.
Source : Sky News
