The armourer for the Western film Rust is asking a judge to dismiss her involuntary manslaughter conviction or order a new trial over the fatal shooting that happened on set.
Defence counsel for Hannah Gutierrez argue in a new court filing that her case should be reconsidered because prosecutors failed to share evidence that might have helped her case.
This was revealed last week during the separate trial of the film’s star Alec Baldwin, who was holding the gun which went off on the set in New Mexico in 2021, killing cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and wounding director Joel Souza.
Baldwin’s case was thrown out by the judge after three days, based on testimony heard in court that police and prosecutors had withheld potential evidence from the defence.
Now, in a new court document submitted on behalf of Gutierrez, who earlier this year was jailed for 18 months for her role in Ms Hutchins’ death, defence lawyer Jason Bowles argues her case should be no different.
“The intentional withholding of crucial evidence… by the State has compromised the integrity of the entire judicial process,” he says in the filing.
Kari Morrissey, the lead prosecutor in both the Baldwin and Gutierrez cases, says her written response will be filed in court next week.
In his court filing, Mr Bowles says Ms Morrissey “lied to this court several times”.
Gutierrez already has an appeal pending in a higher court on her involuntary manslaughter conviction.
How the Baldwin case collapsed
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The case-ending evidence at Baldwin’s trial concerned ammunition that was taken into the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office in March, more than two years after the shooting, by a man who said it could be related to Ms Hutchins’ death.
Investigators deemed the ammunition unrelated and unimportant, the court heard – but Baldwin’s lawyers alleged they “buried” it and filed a motion to dismiss the case, which proved successful.
After an extraordinary day in court – during which Ms Morrissey called herself as a witness – the actor broke down in tears and hugged his lawyers as the judge made the ruling and threw out the case.
Like Gutierrez, he had faced up to 18 months in prison if convicted.
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During Gutierrez’s trial, the prosecution said she unwittingly brought live ammunition on to the film set, where it was expressly prohibited, and failed to follow basic gun safety protocols.
She was acquitted at trial of allegations she tampered with evidence.
There has still not been a definitive determination on how the live rounds made their way on to the film set.
