(Albuquerque) The gunsmith on the film set where Alec Baldwin shot and killed a cinematographer, drank and smoked marijuana at night while filming Rustprosecutors argued, saying she was likely hungover when she loaded a live ammunition into the gun the actor used.
Prosecutors submitted the new arguments on Friday in response to a motion filed last month by attorneys for Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, the gunsmith, who is seeking the dismissal of her manslaughter charge. They accused her of having a history of reckless driving and argued that it would be in the public interest for her to “finally be held accountable”.
Jason Bowles, attorney for Mr.me Gutierrez-Reed said Tuesday that the prosecution mishandled the case.
“The case is so weak that they have now opted to pursue libel charges against Hannah (Gutierrez-Reed), Bowles told The Associated Press. The prosecution has abandoned the idea of doing justice and getting to the truth, apparently. »
A preliminary hearing for Mr.me Gutierrez-Reed is scheduled for August. A judge will then have to decide if there is probable cause for the charge against Hannah Gutierrez-Reed to go forward.
In the response, prosecutors also noted that they expect to decide within the next 60 days whether or not to charge Alec Baldwin again, based on the results of an analysis of the gun and its broken trigger. The items were sent to the state’s independent expert for further testing.
The manslaughter charge against actor Alec Baldwin, who was also the film’s producer, was dismissed in April, with prosecutors citing new evidence and the need for more time to investigate.
Mr Baldwin was pointing a gun at cinematographer Halyna Hutchins during a rehearsal on set in New Mexico in October 2021 when it went off, killing Mrme Hutchins, and injuring the film’s director, Joel Souza.
The lawyers of M.me Gutierrez-Reed had argued in their motion that the prosecution was “tainted with improper political motives” and that Santa Fe District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies and the special prosecutor she originally appointed, Andrea Reeb, “both used the tragic filming accident that resulted in the death of Halyna Hutchins as an opportunity to advance their personal interests.”
Defense attorneys argue that the permanent damage done to the weapon by FBI testing before the defense could examine it amounted to the destruction of evidence and a violation of court disclosure rules. . They also argued that the “selective pursuit” of Mme Gutierrez-Reed constituted a violation of the Equal Protection Article of the Fourteenth Amendment to the US Constitution.
New special prosecutors, who were appointed after the resignation of Mme Reeb, disputed those allegations in their response, saying “nothing about this lawsuit has been or will be selective.”
Prosecutors also acknowledged the unanswered question as to the origin of the live ammunition found on set, saying they were trying to elucidate that aspect of the case and that the investigation was ongoing. They also suggested there was evidence to support the theory that Hannah Gutierrez-Reed herself could be responsible and, if so, other charges could be added.
They did not provide any details in the filing as to what that evidence might be.