'Rust' armorer's lawyers push to get her released from prison in wake of dismissal of Alec Baldwin’s case
Convicted "Rust" armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed's lawyers are asking the state of New Mexico to release her from prison in the wake of Alec Baldwin's case dismissal.
Jason Bowles filed a motion for a new trial or dismissal "for severe and ongoing discovery violations by the State" on Tuesday, according to court documents obtained by NBC News.
The court filing called the discovery violation revealed during Baldwin's trial last week "egregious."
The motion for her release comes after Baldwin's criminal trial was dismissed in stunning fashion on Friday, when 1st Judicial District Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer found that special prosecutor Kari T. Morrissey had suppressed evidence pertaining to live ammunition in connection to the fatal 2021 on-set shooting that killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.
"There is no way for the court to right this wrong," Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer said during court. "The sanction of dismissal is the only warranted remedy."
The dismissal was with prejudice, meaning the involuntary manslaughter case against Baldwin cannot be filed again.
Baldwin’s lawyers asserted that the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office took possession of live rounds of ammunition as evidence but did not record them in the official case file or reveal their existence to the actor’s defense team.
Morrissey insisted the disputed ammunition was not linked to the case or hidden from Baldwin’s lawyers.
“I believe the importance of the evidence was misconstrued by the defense attorneys,” Morrissey told reporters outside the court.
In a separate trial in March, Reed was convicted of involuntary manslaughter and later sentenced to 18 months in prison.
In the filing, Bowles also calls for Morrissey to “be removed as Special Prosecutor for the misconduct that has been found, and the violations committed in Ms. Gutierrez Reed’s case.”
NBC News has reached out to Morrissey for comment.
In an interview last week, Bowles said, "The judge absolutely made the right decision on the law and on the facts. ... The judge found the state committed misconduct. A lot of emotions. I mean, seeing Mr. Baldwin, knowing what he was going through, knowing what Hannah Gutierrez-Reed is going through right now being in prison, and that the state has committed a pattern of violations of discovery ... it’s devastating."