Attorneys for the woman who was in charge of weapons and ammunition on the Rust movie set filed a motion Thursday asking the court to dismiss the charges against her, arguing the case had been tainted by “constitutional and ethical violations” on the part of prosecutors.
Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, who faces a fourth-degree felony count of involuntary manslaughter, is the only person still facing charges in the high-profile case, in which a revolver held by film star Alec Baldwin discharged a bullet, killing cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and wounding director Joel Souza in 2021. Prosecutors dismissed an involuntary manslaughter charge against Baldwin last month.
Gutierrez-Reed’s attorney — Jason Bowles and Todd Bullion — cite numerous instances of what they call prosecutorial misconduct on the part of District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies and former special prosecutor Andrea Reeb as reasons the case against her should be dismissed.
“The prosecutorial misconduct in this case began at inception and has infected this prosecution at every turn,” they wrote in a 33-page pleading filed Thursday.
The defense lawyers accuse the prosecution of “initial missteps in the collection and preservation of evidence, destruction of the firearm, appointment of a conflicted special prosecutor, continued participation by the District Attorney without statutory authority, the special prosecutor’s simultaneous service as a legislator, delay in filing charges, extrajudicial statements, and charging a firearm enhancement that was not a law at the time of the accident.”
“Perhaps aware of the case’s weaknesses on the merits,” they wrote in the motion, “the prosecution has eschewed professional norms and instead attempted to try Reed in the court of public opinion, irreparably tainting the jury pool not only in Santa Fe, but nationwide.”
David Halls, the production’s assistant director at the time of the shooting at the Bonanza Creek Ranch south of Santa Fe, accepted a plea deal in late March on a count of negligent use of a deadly weapon.