Rust Weapons Officer Sentenced to 18 Months in Prison for Alec Baldwin Set Shooting

Hannah Gutierrez-Reed’s job as a military officer was to make sure the weapons on the film set of Rust in Santa Fe they were loaded with blanks, not real bullets. But a real bullet came out of the gun that fired the Hollywood star Alec Baldwin, killing the cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.

Gutierrez-Reed was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter in March. Now she also knows her punishment: she must go to prison for 18 months, the maximum sentence for that charge. In the New Mexico court, her lawyer Jason Bowles asked her to be lenient with her, but prosecutors argued for the maximum sentence because the woman would not show remorse. They deduced this from phone conversations Gutierrez made while she was in prison, in which she called the jurors “idiots” and said the jury had been bribed to convict her.

In court, the woman read a text written with shaking hands, in which she said she was “young and naive” when the accident happened. “But I took my job very seriously. Despite the lack of resources, time and staff, I did what I could. The jury found me partially guilty of this terrible tragedy. That doesn’t make me a monster, it makes me human.” Her lawyer said she would appeal the conviction.

Baldwin

The trial against Alec Baldwin, who is also on trial for involuntary manslaughter, will begin on July 10. He also faces a prison sentence of 18 months. He has pleaded not guilty, maintains his innocence and asked for the case to be classified. After all, Baldwin maintains that he was sure the gun was not loaded so he could not have been aware of the danger.