Subhi Agrawal
The weapons supervisor involved in the fatal shooting of a cinematographer by Alec Baldwin on the Rust set pleaded guilty on Monday to an unrelated criminal charge of bringing a gun into a licensed bar.
Gutierrez-Reed Pleads Guilty for Gun Charge
In exchange for a reduced sentence, film armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed changed her plea to guilty on the charge of carrying a gun into a licensed liquor establishment. Judge T. Glenn Ellington approved the agreement, allowing her to begin 18 months of supervised probation while serving an 18-month prison term in a New Mexico penitentiary for involuntary manslaughter in the fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins. Prosecutors in the Rust case held Gutierrez-Reed responsible for accidentally bringing live ammunition onto set and for not adhering to basic gun safety protocols.
On Monday, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed entered the Santa Fe courtroom wearing a beige jumpsuit, handcuffs, and ankle shackles to plead guilty and waive her right to trial. “I’d just like to apologize to the court and thank you for your judgment today,” she said. The case stems from evidence that, weeks before Rust began filming in October 2021, Gutierrez-Reed had brought a gun into a Santa Fe bar, where firearms are prohibited.
Special prosecutor Kari Morrissey stated that Gutierrez-Reed had filmed herself in the bar’s bathroom with a handgun, explaining in the video how she had sneaked the prohibited firearm in. The video was discovered during a search of the armorer’s phone as part of the Rust investigation.
Gutierrez-Reed Faces Appeal After Manslaughter Conviction
In March, Gutierrez-Reed was convicted of involuntary manslaughter in the fatal shooting of Halyna Hutchins, and she currently has an appeal pending in a higher court. Alec Baldwin, the lead actor and co-producer of Rust, was pointing a gun at Hutchins during a rehearsal when the revolver discharged, killing Hutchins and injuring director Joel Souza.
In July, Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer dismissed the involuntary manslaughter case against Alec Baldwin midway through trial due to the withholding of evidence by police and prosecutors from the defense. Special prosecutor Kari Morrissey has since requested that the judge reconsider the dismissal. As part of her plea agreement, Gutierrez-Reed is prohibited from possessing firearms, consuming alcohol or drugs, and must pay $180 in fees. She is also required to submit a DNA sample to a criminal database and complete an addiction treatment program while on probation.
Defense attorney Jason Bowles explained that the plea agreement allows Gutierrez-Reed to be released from prison as early as June 2025, enabling her to complete probation in Arizona without an additional felony conviction on her record. Before being escorted out of the courtroom, Gutierrez-Reed blew kisses toward her mother, Stacy Reed, who was seated in the gallery. Stacy Reed expressed gratitude that her daughter could start fulfilling new parole requirements before her release. “She’s not gotten a fair shake from the beginning,” said Reed, who had traveled from Arizona for the hearing.
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