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A judge denied Hannah Gutierrez Reed’s request for a new trial Friday.
The convicted “Rust” armorer will also stay in prison ahead of her sentencing, despite plans to appeal the March 6 involuntary manslaughter conviction.
Gutierrez Reed’s lawyer, Jason Bowles, argued that it is “unfair” to have the armorer possibly serve her whole sentence if it’s going to be reversed. The prosecution opposed her release.
“Keep in mind, there was a death that the jury determined was caused by her. So, I’m not releasing her,” Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer stated.
ALEC BALDWIN’S ‘RUST’ ARMORER’S DEMAND FOR NEW TRIAL ‘UPHILL BATTLE’ FOLLOWING CONVICTION: EXPERT
Hannah Gutierrez Reed will remain in prison until her sentencing, a judge ruled Friday. (Courtesy: New Mexico Courts)
Sommer also denied Gutierrez Reed’s request for a new trial based on jury instruction error.
“I’m very aware of what occurred at trial,” the judge said before explaining the reasons behind her decision.
“The jury instructions in this case are distinguishable” from the cases brought forward in arguments by Gutierrez Reed’s legal team, she said.
Bowles had argued that the instructions given during trial “could confuse the jury and lead to a non-unanimous verdict.”
Halyna Hutchins, the “Rust” cinematographer, died after being shot by a gun that actor Alec Baldwin was holding while staging a scene in a small church at Bonanza Creek Ranch in 2021. Baldwin will head to court for his own involuntary manslaughter trial in July.
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Hannah Gutierrez Reed was convicted of involuntary manslaughter in connection with the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins. (Luis Sánchez Saturno – Pool/Getty Images)
The armorer’s trial, which began February 21, included testimony from weapons experts, FBI and Santa Fe County authorities and crew members who witnessed the fatal shooting.
Gutierrez Reed was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter on March 6. During Gutierrez Reed’s trial, the prosecution largely focused on Gutierrez Reed’s behavior as an armorer, claiming that she didn’t do her job correctly.
“Hannah Gutierrez knew that Baldwin was loose. She knew it,” Morrissey said during closing arguments. “She didn’t do anything about it, even though it was her job. It was her job. It is her job to say to an A-list actor, if in fact, that’s what you want to call him, ‘Hey, you can’t behave that way with those firearms.’ That is her job. That is what they pay her for. That is the job that she applied for. That is the job that she accepted.”
However, her legal team doesn’t believe the jury was given proper instructions. According to Gutierrez Reed’s lawyer, Jason Bowles, the instructions “could confuse the jury and lead to a non-unanimous verdict.”
Hannah Gutierrez Reed listens to the verdict being read in her involuntary manslaughter case. (Courtesy: New Mexico Courts)
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Bowles cited a New Mexico Supreme Court ruling in a motion for a new trial in court documents obtained by Fox News Digital.
“In Taylor, the Court reversed child abuse convictions on jury instruction error,” the documents state. “Specifically, the Court criticized the use of and/or in listing various acts the jury could find committed by the defendants. The Court also noted that such drafting of the instructions could confuse the jury and lead to a non-unanimous verdict on any particular act.”
Special prosecutors Kari Morrissey and Jason Lewis argued that the jury instructions were “neither confusing nor legally insufficient.”
“While the Court makes it clear that the use of ‘and/or’ should be avoided in jury instructions, the test for determining whether instructions are legally insufficient is far more complex,” the prosecution wrote in the reply, obtained by Fox News Digital.
Hannah Gutierrez Reed worked as the armorer on the set of “Rust.” Alec Baldwin was holding the gun that fired, killing cinematographer Halyna Hutchins. (Courtesy: New Mexico Courts)
