State Court of Appeals gives District Court green light to rule on 'Rust' armorer's request for new trial

Jul. 26—The New Mexico Court of Appeals has granted a motion allowing the First Judicial District Court to rule on former Rust armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed's request for a new trial.

After a judge abruptly ended a trial for film star and producer Alec Baldwin earlier this month and dismissed the involuntary manslaughter case against him, finding prosecutors had withheld evidence, Gutierrez-Reed's attorneys filed the motion seeking a new trial for her. It asks the court to dismiss her involuntary manslaughter conviction or grant her a new trial, based on the same allegations of withheld evidence and misconduct by prosecutors.

Gutierrez-Reed and Baldwin both faced the fourth-degree felony charge in connection with the 2021 shooting death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the Rust set south of Santa Fe. Hutchins was struck by a bullet that came from a gun Baldwin was using during a scene walk-through.

Prosecutors say Gutierrez-Reed introduced live ammunition on the set and inadvertently loaded a real bullet instead of a dummy round into the revolver Baldwin wielded.

District Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer dismissed Baldwin's case mid-trial, granting a defense motion accusing prosecutors of violating discovery rules by not disclosing evidence that had been turned over to the Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office.

Gutierrez-Reed's attorneys filed a motion July 16 asking for a new trial based on the same issues. They previously filed an appeal of her conviction.

The Court of Appeals' order issued Thursday grants Gutierrez-Reed's unopposed motion asking the District Court to rule on her request for a new trial, despite her appeal.

According to her motion, a court can only grant a request for a new trial, based on newly discovered evidence, "on remand of the case" if an appeal is pending.

The appeals court's order grants "limited remand."