'Rust' armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed seeks prison release while appealing Halyna Hutchins' death charges
SANTA FE, NEW MEXICO: ‘Rust’ armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed has requested the court to allow her to be released from prison while she is waiting for the appeal of her involuntary manslaughter conviction.
Per Fox News, Reed’s legal counsel is seeking her release from prison, citing that if her post-conviction appeal becomes successful, it would be of little use as she would have served most of her sentence by then.
Hannah Gutierrez-Reed is requesting to be released
The ‘Rust’ armorer was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter in the tragic death of the cinematographer Halyna Hutchins when a loaded gun - held by actor Alec Baldwin - discharged and shot her.
In April 2024, Reed was sentenced to a maximum of 18 months of imprisonment for her role in the tragedy, per Fox News.
As per the court documents, "Ms. Gutierrez Reed is requesting to be released while she appeals, as if her appeal is successful, she will have served most or all of her sentence anyway, rendering a large part of the appeal meaningless,"
Reed’s lawyer, Jason Bowles, further added, "She is not a danger to the community or a flight risk."
Hannah Gutierrez-Reed was sentenced to 18 months
After Reed was convicted of involuntary manslaughter by a jury, the judge Mary Marlowe Sommer handed down the sentencing.
Sommer said, "I find what you did constitutes a serious violent offense," before which Reed requested in a statement read in the court to not to give her a long period of imprisonment.
Reed’s statement read, "Your honor, when I took on 'Rust,' I was young and naive. But I took my job as seriously as I knew how to," before adding, "I beg you, please, don't give me more time. The jury has found me in part at fault for this horrible tragedy, but that doesn't make me a monster. That makes me human," per CBS News.
Sommer then continued, "For all the fanfare and pundits and finger-pointing that has been going on for over two years, we were able to seat a jury of her peers who confirmed that they could listen to the evidence received in court and determine the facts and apply the law.”
The judge added, "They found Ms. Gutierrez guilty of involuntary manslaughter." Reed was slammed for her jailhouse calls where she spoke to someone about how "this is messing up her modeling career."
Sommer continued, "I find that what you did constitutes a serious, violent offense," before adding, "It was committed in a physically violent manner. A fatal gunshot done with your recklessness in the face of knowledge that your acts were reasonably likely to result in serious harm."
"You were the armorer, the one that's to be between a safe weapon and a weapon that could kill someone. You alone turned a safe weapon into a lethal weapon. But for you, Mrs. Hutchins would be alive, a husband would have his partner and a little boy would have his mother. Please take her."
As Reed’s lawyers filed a motion, Alec Baldwin is preparing for his own involuntary manslaughter trial.
As the actor’s legal team has filed three separate motions to dismiss the indictment, a hearing on the first motion is scheduled for May 17.
