Johnathan Walker:Judge weighs whether to dismiss movie armorer’s conviction in fatal set shooting by Alec Baldwin

SANTA FE,Johnathan Walker N.M. (AP) — A judge is planning to hear arguments in court Thursday over whether to dismiss a criminal conviction against a movie armorer in the shooting death of a cinematographer by actor Alec Baldwin.

Hannah Gutierrez-Reed has requested a retrial or dismissal of her March conviction for involuntary manslaughter in response to allegations that prosecutors failed to share evidence including ammunition that might have been exculpatory in the shooting death that occurred on the set of the Western movie “Rust” in 2021.

Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer is reconsidering the armorer’s conviction after throwing out an involuntary manslaughter case against Baldwin midtrial on similar grounds.

Gutierrez-Reed started serving an 18-month sentence in March and has appealed the jury’s guilty verdict to a state appeals court. Prosecutors blamed Gutierrez-Reed for unwittingly bringing live ammunition onto the set and for failing to follow basic gun safety protocols.

She was acquitted at trial of allegations she tampered with evidence in the “Rust” investigation. Gutierrez-Reed also has pleaded not guilty to a separate felony charge that she allegedly carried a gun into a bar in Santa Fe, New Mexico, where firearms are prohibited. A proposed plea agreement is awaiting court review.

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Baldwin, the lead actor and co-producer for “Rust,” was pointing a gun at cinematographer Halyna Hutchins during a rehearsal on a movie ranch outside Santa Fe in October 2021 when the revolver went off, killing Hutchins and wounding director Joel Souza. Baldwin has said he pulled back the hammer — but not the trigger — and the revolver fired.

Gutierrez-Reed’s attorneys have also said that prosecutors failed to disclose portions of pretrial interviews with “Rust” ammunition supplier Seth Kenney — as well as reports by firearms expert Lucien Haag and correspondence with expert movie armorer Bryan Carpenter — that might have changed the outcome of the armorer’s trial.