Why the Convicted Rust Armorer Who Doesn’t Want to Testify in Alec Baldwin’s Case Is Headed to Trial Again

Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, the Rust armorer who was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter for her role in the 2021 accidental on-set shooting death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, is headed to trial in August on a separate felony charge.

This additional court case, while previously known, has come up again in recent days as the attorneys prosecuting Alec Baldwin on his own involuntary manslaughter charge have asked the court to force her to testify at the actor’s July trial.

Last year, a grand jury indicted Gutierrez-Reed, 27 — the Western’s primary weapons handler, who accidentally loaded a live round into the prop gun Baldwin was holding when it discharged, killing Hutchins — on a felony charge of bringing a firearm into a New Mexico bar on Oct. 1, 2021.

According to court documents filed by prosecutors, while they were investigating the Rust shooting, they discovered a selfie video of Gutierrez-Reed carrying a gun into the establishment.

“Upon successfully circumventing the security at the bar she went into the restroom and made a selfie video stating, ‘They checked my purse, but they didn’t check my butt cheeks! ‘Wah wah wah,’” according to court documents. “At the same time that she was speaking, she held up a nickel-plated semi-automatic pistol in front of the camera.”

Gutierrez-Reed, who is serving an 18-month sentence for involuntary manslaughter, pleaded not guilty. If convicted, she could face an additional 18 months in prison, according to Jason Bowles, one of her attorneys.

Prosecutors want Gutierrez-Reed, who is appealing her March involuntary manslaughter conviction, to testify at Baldwin’s upcoming trial. But during a preliminary interview in May, she asserted her Fifth Amendment privilege and declined to answer “all substantive questions,” according to court documents filed by prosecutors.

Because of that, they have asked the court to grant her “use immunity,” meaning that whatever she says at Baldwin’s trial could not be used against her during her appeal.

On June 10, Bowles filed his objection to the state’s motion in court documents obtained by PEOPLE. 

“Ms. Gutierrez Reed is also charged with a felony of bringing a firearm into a bar,” he wrote. “The State failed to mention or discuss this separate prosecution in its motion to compel use immunity.”

“Compelling her to testify at Mr. Baldwin’s trial would generate tremendous publicity while the appeal of her conviction is still pending, seriously prejudicing Ms. Gutierrez Reed if a new trial is granted, and in her separate prosecution for bringing a firearm into a bar,” he continued.

“There is simply no way to account for the various forms of prejudice — not to mention the constitutional harm — that Ms. Gutierrez-Reed would suffer if she were compelled to testify, because there is no way to shield potential jurors from her testimony at Mr. Baldwin’s trial, which will be one of the most watched, publicized, and discussed trials in New Mexico history,” he added.

Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer, who is presiding over Baldwin's trial, will hear arguments for and against granting Gutierrez-Reed use immunity on June 21.

Baldwin, who has insisted he did not pull the trigger and did not know the gun he held contained live ammo, is set to stand trial on July 10.

Gutierrez-Reed’s trial is scheduled to begin Aug. 6.