Hannah Gutierrez, who was in charge of supervising the weapons in the production of jeans, He expressed no emotion when he heard the verdict. unanimous, which the jury reached after two hours of deliberations.
Sentence should not be announced before April.
Gutierrez, who always refuted the accusations, could face more than a year in prison for the position.
Gutierrez’s trial for the shooting on the set that in 2021 ended the life of the director of photography, Halyna Hutchinslasted two weeks.
Hutchins died as a result of a shot from a Colt .45 that Baldwin brandished during a rehearsal in a church on the filming set in the state of New Mexico, in the southern United States. The weapon, contrary to expectations, had a real bullet. Director Joel Souza was injured with the same projectile.
#UPDATE The woman in charge of weapons on the set of the Alec Baldwin movie “Rust,” where a cinematographer was shot dead, was convicted of involuntary manslaughter https://t.co/sLchrU2MVg
— AFP News Agency (@AFP) March 7, 2024
The trial focused on how the bullet, one of several investigators found, got to the setsomething strictly prohibited by industry safety rules.
“Without attention”
The jury saw images from the filming in which the actors handled weapons in a dangerous way, according to witnesses, without Gutierrez interveningincluding a shot with Baldwin holding the gun as if it were a “targeting stick.”
“This is not a case where Hannah Gutierrez made a mistake and that mistake was accidentally putting a loaded cartridge in that gun“Prosecutor Kari Morrissey told the jury in her closing argument Wednesday.
“This case It’s about the constant and endless failures that resulted in the death of one human being and almost killed another,” he continued.
#LAST MINUTE | The gunsmith from the filming of ‘Rust’ is found guilty of involuntary manslaughter pic.twitter.com/uADRwbB0yX
— EFE News (@EFEnoticias) March 6, 2024
Morrissey said in the morning that, when Hutchins was shot, the gunsmith, also known as Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, she was as usual careless with her job of supervising the more than 20 weapons that the production used, and was not present when Baldwin and the crew were preparing for a scene.
“He left the gun in the church, against all the rules of the industry for gunsmiths on film sets,” Morrissey said.
“As you heard from several witnesses, she left the weapons unattended all the time. There was nothing unusual on October 21,” the day of the fatal shooting, he said.
Gutierrez, Morrisey said, brought live bullets to set and failed to exercise basic precautionary measures to ensure that the ammunition he placed in the weapons was inert, such as shaking them to hear the characteristic sound.
“Friends, if she didn’t check the prop ammunition (…) to make sure those bullets (…) were in fact props, This was Russian roulette every time an actor grabbed a gun.“He told the jury.
Scapegoat
The defense, led by Jason Bowles, He said Gutierrez was a scapegoat for a production that economized on security for financial reasons.
Gutierrez I had no way of knowing that there was live ammunition on the set and was led to believe that the producers obtained prop bullets for the film, she maintained.
“The responsibility lies with the production, as in any organization. It starts at the top,” he said. “The powerful want to leave this behind and finish the movie. Make money”.
“They have the right person to put that weight sitting here,” he continued.
Gutierrez also faced a charge of obstruction of evidence. due to her alleged attempt to dispose of cocaine following the incident on set, but the jury found her not guilty.
Baldwinone of the producers of the film in addition to being the protagonist, also is accused of involuntary manslaughter and is due to go to trial in July.
#Gunwoman #film #Rust #guilty #involuntary #manslaughter