Rust movie armourer gets prison sentence
Rust armourer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed has been sentenced to prison over the fatal shooting of Halyna Hutchins.
According to NBC News, a Sante Fe, New Mexico judge sentenced Gutierrez-Reed to the maximum prison sentence of 18 months behind bars.
During the hearing, the judge admonished Gutierrez-Reed for not showing remorse during the course of the trial.
"You were the armorer who stood between a safe weapon and a weapon that could kill someone. For you, she would be alive," the judge said.
Gutierrez-Reed was convicted of involuntary manslaughter last month and prosecutors subsequently pursued the maximum criminal sentence for her.
Related: Supernatural's Jensen Ackles pays tribute to Rust's Halyna Hutchins
In October 2021, cinematographer Hutchins was tragically killed on the set of Western movie Rust by a live round fired by Alec Baldwin from a prop gun.
Gutierrez-Reed, who loaded the gun with live bullets after they became mixed in with dummy bullets, was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter on March 6.
Hutchins' parents and sister said they were "satisfied" with the verdict in a statement, adding: "We look forward to the justice system continuing to make sure that everyone else who is responsible for Halyna's death is required to face the legal consequences for their actions."
Prosecutors said Gutierrez-Reed was "negligent", "careless" and "thoughtless" for failing to notice that live bullets had been mixed up with dummy ones in the box of ammunition.
"This case is about constant, never-ending safety failures that resulted in the death of a human being," prosecutor Kari T Morrissey said during the closing arguments.
Meanwhile, Gutierrez-Reed's lawyer Jason Bowles argued that Baldwin went "off-script" when he pointed the gun at the film's crew.
Related: Dwayne Johnson will stop using real guns in his movies following Rust tragedy
"It was not in the script for Mr Baldwin to point the weapon. She didn't know that Mr Baldwin was going to do what he did," he said.
Baldwin has also been charged with involuntary manslaughter and will go on trial for the act of shooting the gun later this year.
After the actor was charged last year, his attorney said: "This decision distorts Halyna Hutchins' tragic death and represents a terrible miscarriage of justice. Mr Baldwin had no reason to believe there was a live bullet in the gun – or anywhere on the movie set. He relied on the professionals with whom he worked, who assured him the gun did not have live rounds. We will fight these charges, and we will win."
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