Charges Remain Against Armorer in “Rust” Case

Prosecutors in the high-profile Rust case officially dropped charges against actor and producer Alec Baldwin Friday afternoon, but confirmed in a status conference the same day that film set armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed will face a preliminary hearing in August for alleged manslaughter in the incident that killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.

Special prosecutors Kari Morrissey and Jason Lewis signaled in the formal notice of dropped charges that they plan to bring another case against Baldwin because “new facts were revealed that demand further investigation and forensic analysis,” that could not have been completed by court timelines.

“The case is dismissed without prejudice and the investigation is active and ongoing,” the notice reads.

The court filing does not specify, however, what new facts were uncovered.

Gutierrez-Reed’s attorney, along with Morrissey met with First Judicial District Judge Mary Marlowe-Sommer for a status conference Friday afternoon and agreed to push the armorer’s hearing back to August instead of keeping the May 3 date that had been planned for both her and Baldwin.

Morrissey told Marlowe-Sommer prosecutors would need less time blocked off for a preliminary hearing now that charges against Baldwin wouldn’t be part of the docket, but that they would need more time to prepare for Gutierrez-Reed’s hearing.

Gutierrez-Reed’s attorney, Jason Bowles, told Marlowe-Sommer his team would also need more time to prepare for the hearing.

“Obviously, the preliminary hearing will now, I don’t believe, take two weeks,” Morrissey said during Friday’s status conference. “In addition to that, myself and Mr. Bowles are on the same page, in terms of wanting to get as much time prior to a preliminary hearing as we can to complete the rest of the investigation on all of these important issues that have surfaced just within the last few days.”

Morrissey asked for two to three months to prepare in order to complete an additional investigation and issue subpoenas to witnesses.

Baldwin was originally charged with involuntary manslaughter after Hutchins died from a gunshot wound in 2021. Baldwin told police he did not pull the trigger while holding the gun during a scene rehearsal—something he repeated in a prime time TV interview. Months went by before First Judicial District Attorney Mary-Carmack Altwies formally filed charges against Baldwin and Gutierrez-Reed.

The charges were followed by a series of twists and turns. Carmack-Altwies appointed Republican state lawmaker Andrea Reeb as a special prosecutor, to the protest of both defense teams. Reeb resigned shortly after The New York Times released emails that suggested Reeb hoped the case would help her campaign at the time. Marlowe-Sommer then told Carmack-Altwies she could not prosecute the case alongside a special prosecutor, so the DA handed things over to Morrissey and Lewis.

The preliminary hearing for Gutierrez-Reed, in which prosecutors will try and make the case that there is enough evidence for a full trial, is scheduled from Aug. 9 through Aug. 16.