(NewsNation) — A jury found armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed guilty of involuntary manslaughter and not guilty of evidence tampering in the fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of the film “Rust.”
Hutchins was killed, and director Joel Souza injured, by what was thought to be a prop gun during a rehearsal on Oct. 21, 2021, in New Mexico.
Actor Alec Baldwin, who was holding the gun as it went off, was indicted on involuntary manslaughter charges as well and, like Gutierrez-Reed, pleaded not guilty.
Gutierrez-Reed is set to be sentenced “sometime in April”, she is facing 18 months of prison time.
Outside the courthouse – juror Alberto Sanchez said it wasn’t hard for the jury to reach a verdict during the nearly three-hour deliberation process.
Someone died. You gotta take responsibility. Especially when you are handling weapons and you are in charge of those. That’s your job,” Sanchez said.
The defense team was disappointed with the outcome – and said they plan to fight back.
“The evidence wasn’t sufficient to convict and it was a lot of guesswork and speculation, but again, the jury rendered its verdict and we will be appealing that,” Gutierrez-Reed’s defense attorney Jason Bowles said.
Special prosecutor Kari Morrissey said Wednesday in closing arguments that Gutierrez-Reed’s negligence led to Hutchins’ death. Morrissey pointed to live ammunition found on set to show that weapons were handled poorly as well as other mistakes she said were made on the film set.
“This is not a case where Hannah Gutierrez made one mistake, and that one mistake was accidentally putting a live round into that gun,” Morrissey said. “That’s not what this case is about. This case is about constant, never-ending safety failures that resulted in the death of a human being and nearly killed another.”
Defense lawyers have said, on the other hand, that widespread mistakes occurred at all levels of risk management and that Gutierrez-Reed is a victim of sabotage.
Bowles referenced in his closing arguments an Occupational Safety and Health Administration report showing there were various safety concerns and flaws on set.
He said Gutierrez-Reed could not have anticipated what Baldwin would do when he went off-script the day Hutchins was killed.
“Justice for Halyna does not mean injustice for Hannah,” Bowles said. “It does not mean they get to steamroll her and get to spin their version of facts and call it truth. Because that’s not truth.”
Baldwin’s trial has been set for July, with jury selection beginning July 9. He faces up to 18 months in prison if convicted.
Many of the same witnesses are expected to testify including the prop masters, directors and movie set safety specialists.
But legal experts say Baldwin’s defense team will likely attempt to drop the charges now that Gutierrez-Reed has been convicted.
It will be up to the prosecution to decide whether or not they want to continue pushing forward to a trial.