Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, the armorer on the set of the film “Rust” who was previously charged with two counts of involuntary manslaughter in the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, is now facing an additional charge of tampering with evidence.
The state prosecutors in Santa Fe, New Mexico, modified their criminal complaint against Gutierrez-Reed to include the new charge. According to the court filing, the prosecutors allege that Gutierrez-Reed “did transfer narcotics to another person with the intent to prevent the apprehension, prosecution or conviction of herself.”
The filing did not provide further details regarding the specific circumstances of the new charge.
Jason Bowles, the lawyer representing Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, swiftly responded to the new charge, expressing his shock and raising concerns about the fairness of the case.
In a statement, Bowles stated “It is shocking that after 20 months of investigation, the special prosecutor now throws in a completely new charge against Ms. Gutierrez Reed, with no prior notice or any witness statements, lab reports, or evidence to support it. This comes on the heels of the state letting its lead investigator go, and the investigator raising serious concerns about the investigation in an email. This stinks to high heaven and is retaliatory and vindictive.”
New Mexico special prosecutor Kari Morrissey issued a response to Jason Bowles’ statement, emphasizing, “The prosecutors are determined to get the facts of the case before the court. The ongoing investigation revealed strong evidence that Ms. Gutierrez-Reed tampered with evidence on the day of the shooting by asking another person to take possession of her narcotics. She is properly charged with tampering with evidence and the prosecution will provide Mr. Bowles all evidence related to the new charge in a timely fashion.
Defendants are never entitled to notice that an information is being filed, the information is the notice. Defendants are not entitled to discovery prior to charges being filed. As a former prosecutor Mr. Bowles knows this to be true.”
In response, Bowles filed a court document on behalf of his client, requesting the dismissal of the new information and urging the state prosecutor to release the emails exchanged between the investigator, the district attorney, and state prosecutors.
In the previous month, Gutierrez-Reed’s legal team submitted a motion seeking the dismissal of her case involving the tragic shooting incident on the set that resulted in the death of Halyna Hutchins. Gutierrez-Reed faces charges of two counts of involuntary manslaughter in relation to the incident that occurred during the filming of a Western movie in New Mexico in October 2021. Her attorneys have stated that she plans to enter a plea of not guilty and maintain that she is unaware of how live ammunition found its way into the firearm involved in the incident.
In April, the two charges of involuntary manslaughter against actor Alec Baldwin, who was handling the gun at the time of the incident, were dismissed.
“We are pleased with the decision to dismiss the case against Alec Baldwin and we encourage a proper investigation into the facts and circumstances of this tragic accident,” stated Luke Nikas and Alex Spiro, the lawyers representing Baldwin, in a statement when the charges were dropped.
The gun enhancement charges that had been filed against both Baldwin and Gutierrez-Reed in the case were also dismissed in late February.
