Hannah Gutierrez, the “Rust” armorer, received the maximum punishment of 18 months in prison for involuntary manslaughter in the 2021 fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.
Gutierrez’s lawyers requested probation in a sentencing memorandum filed last week, citing her “complete lack of prior criminal history” and “relative youth.” Prosecutors, meanwhile, demanded an 18-month term as a serious violent offender for her “extreme recklessness” while working as an armorer on the “Rust” set in New Mexico.
“You alone turned a safe weapon into a lethal weapon,” Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer said. “But for you, Ms. Hutchins would be alive. A husband would have his partner, and a little boy would have his mother.”
Hannah Gutierrez said to the court, “My heart aches for the Hutchins family, and friends and colleagues
“Your honor, when I took on ‘Rust’ I was young and naive. But I took my job as seriously as I knew how to, despite not having proper time, resources, and staffing, I just did my best to handle it,” she said. “Today I humbly ask you to consider probation. … I beg you, please don’t give me more time.”
Gutierrez, dressed in brown jail clothing, observed as Hutchins’ friends spoke to the court before the sentence was handed.
Hutchins’ friend Jen White told the court, “I still look for her. I still expect to see her. I still wonder what adventures she’s on … then my heart drops through my feet.”
“She inspired me. And I don’t think she knew that because I never got to tell her. She was one of my favorite people in the world,” White said, as Gutierrez wiped away tears.”
White stated that if Gutierrez “had properly done her job, Halyna would still be alive.”
“I beg you to impose the maximum sentence,” White said to the judge. “She needs to be held accountable.”
“If prison time is the only way she will face any responsibility … it should be for as long as the law allows,” White said.
Director Joel Souza, who was injured in the fatal shooting, told the judge that Hutchins “had a talent for life.”
“She was a touchstone for all who knew her. And those of us who were lucky enough to have shared in her fleeting time on this planet are better for it,” he said.
Emilia Mendieta, Hutchins’ close friend and film school classmate, told the judge: “Someone didn’t do their job right — a lot of someones.
The Santa Fe County jury deliberated for less than three hours on March 6 before reaching a split decision. They convicted her of involuntary manslaughter but cleared her of tampering with the evidence in the case.
During closing arguments, prosecutors told jurors that Gutierrez “repeatedly” failed to maintain adequate weapon safety and that her negligence resulted in the death of Hutchins, who was shot by actor Alec Baldwin, while the defense responded that the 26-year-old is a “convenient scapegoat”.
Gutierrez was remanded into custody after the verdict.
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