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Prosecutors allegeRustarmorerHannah Gutierrez-Reedwas “likely” hungover when she loaded the prop gun that resulted incinematographer Halyna Hutchins’s death back in October 2021.
On Friday, prosecutors in New Mexico’s criminal case against Gutierrez-Reedrespondedto the armorer’s attorney’s motion to dismiss the charges against her, stating she is being “appropriately prosecuted because her primary function as an armorer on theRustmovie set was to ensure gun safety.”
“Her reckless failure resulted in the senseless death of another human being,” special prosecutors Kari T. Morrissey and Jason J. Lewis alleged in the court filing. “All Defendant Gutierrez needed to do was shake every bullet and make sure it rattled before putting it in the gun — she failed and killed someone.”
The special prosecutors claimed that witnesses in the state’s current case against Gutierrez-Reed — criminal charges against Alec Baldwin, 65, weredropped back in April— “will testify that Defendant Gutierrez was drinking heavily and smoking marijuana in the evenings during the shooting ofRust.”
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In a statement to PEOPLE Wednesday, Gutierrez-Reed’s attorney Jason Bowles said the prosecution “has so mishandled this case and the case is so weak that they are now resorting to character assassination tactics to further taint the jury pool.”
“This investigation and prosecution has not been about seeking Justice; for them it’s been about finding a convenient scapegoat,” he added.
The special prosecutors added in their filing that Gutierrez-Reed has “previously been sued civilly for providing the keys to her motorcycle to an intoxicated person who was predictably involved in a motor vehicle accident that resulted in someone’s death.”
TMZpreviously reported in October 2021 that Gutierrez-Reed was tied to the August 2020 death of a friend who was killed in a motorcycle accident, which reportedly happened after she provided the keys to her motorcycle to another intoxicated individual.Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
“Defendant Gutierrez has a history of reckless conduct that has resulted in loss of human life and it is in the public interest that she finally be held accountable,” the prosecutors wrote in the court filing.
Elsewhere in the court filing, the prosecutors noted that they anticipate making a final decision on criminal charges involving Baldwin “within the next 60 days.”
Courtesy of Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office
“The charges against Alec Baldwin were dismissed without prejudice because a possible malfunction of the gun significantly effects causation with regard to Baldwin, not with regard to Gutierrez," they wrote in the court filing. “If it is determined that the gun did not malfunction, charges against Mr. Baldwin will proceed.”
Upon thedismissal of Baldwin’s criminal charges in April, the prosecutors did note that the decision “does not absolve Mr. Baldwin of criminal culpability and charges may be refiled.”
The team behindRust, including Baldwin and director Joel Souza, who was injured in the on-set shooting, resumed production andcompleted the film earlier this year.
source: people.com
