Pool on Court TV
The guilty verdict against Hannah Gutierrez Reed, the weapons maker behind the film “Lust,” was read out in a New Mexico court in March.
CNN
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of Dramatic dismissal Manslaughter case Actor Alec Baldwin Convicted “Lust” arms manufacturer Hannah Gutierrez Reed could be released from New Mexico prison after evidence was destroyed, legal experts say To tell.
Hannah Gutierrez Reid was convicted of manslaughter In March, he was sentenced to 18 months in prison for the shooting death of a cinematographer. Halina HutchinsIn 2021, she was killed by a live bullet fired from a prop gun held by Baldwin on the set of a Western movie. attractive Her beliefs.
But the Baldwin case fell apart in a sudden and shocking development on Friday, just two days after the trial began. A thrilling courtroom thriller unfolds.
The judge handed down the sentence The prosecution did not present evidence properly. The ruling came on a motion to dismiss by the actor’s lawyers, who argued that the state had failed to tell them that a man had given investigators a package of untested ammunition that was allegedly linked to the crime.
“Given the egregious misconduct that led to the dismissal of Alec Baldwin’s lawsuit, it is clear that Hannah Gutierrez Reed’s lawsuit should also be dismissed,” New York attorney Duncan Levin said in an email.
“The state’s deliberate suppression of critical evidence has undermined the integrity of the entire judicial process. Justice demands that Hannah’s wrongful conviction be immediately overturned and that our justice system not perpetuate this grave injustice.”
Shortly after the trial’s shocking conclusion, Gutierrez Reed’s lawyers said they plan to file a motion to seek her release.
“I am confident that Hannah Gutierrez Reed will make the same arguments to overturn her conviction,” former federal prosecutor Neama Rahamani told CNN. “I think this case was lost by the prosecution more than it was won by Alec Baldwin.” … This evidence exonerates Gutierrez Reed more than it exonerates Baldwin.”
The evidence in question first came to light Thursday, when a crime scene technician testified that a man delivered a box of ammunition to the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office after Gutierrez-Reed’s conviction. Troy Teske, a former police officer and friend of the gunsmith’s father, told investigators the ammunition could be linked to the “Rust” case, according to the testimony of crime scene technician Marissa Poppel.
But Poppel told jurors the bullet was classified separately from Baldwin’s case, was not included in the inventory for the “Rust” case and was never tested to see if it matched the fatal bullet.
Baldwin’s defense team argued that prosecutors suppressed this evidence.
His lawyers argued that the state “unilaterally suppressed” evidence that could have been favorable to his trial. 1963 Brady v. MarylandThe rule requires prosecutors to “disclose.” Documents, exculpatory information According to Cornell Law School, “government-held documents will be provided to the defense.”
The case collapsed on Friday when the judge sent jurors home early, presided over a chaotic several hours of hearings that saw the lead prosecutor grill witnesses before taking the stand himself and the co-special prosecutor abruptly resign.. Ultimately, Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer dismissed the case, meaning it cannot be refiled. Judge Sommer said the destruction of evidence was “intentional and deliberate.”
“Jurors are sworn and in danger, and this disclosure comes too late during the trial, undermining the defendants’ trial preparations,” Marlowe Sommer said. “There is no way for the court to right this error.”
The “30 Rock” and “The Hunt for Red October” star, who pleaded not guilty and could have faced up to 18 months in prison, broke down in tears as the sentence was handed down and then embraced his wife, Hilaria, as court adjourned for the day.
On October 21, 2021, Baldwin was practicing “cross-draws” (pulling a gun from a holster with the opposite hand from the one he is drawing it from) with a prop gun on the set of a film when a live round discharged, killing Hutchins and injuring director Joel Souza.
Gutierrez Reed’s attorney, Jason Bowles, told CNN on Friday that he plans to seek freedom for his client.
“While the judge found intentional misconduct, the state made similar mistakes in Ms. Hannah’s case. We will seek dismissal of Ms. Hannah’s case,” Bowles said.
Sommer was also the judge in the arms maker’s trial.
CNN legal analyst Joey Jackson said her ruling on the ammunition disclosure violations should have a major impact in the Gutierrez Reed case.
“I think what you’re going to see is a motion by the defendant’s attorney to suggest that the defendant didn’t have this information during the trial,” Jackson said.
“Obviously, it was under the jurisdiction of the prosecutor’s office. Obviously, it was brought to the prosecutor’s attention. And the prosecutor’s office cannot unilaterally make a decision about whether something is relevant or important to the case. It is shared, it is evaluated and it is analyzed.”
“I am confident that the trial court or the appellate court will overturn the conviction. Not only will Alec Baldwin be free, but Hannah Gutierrez Reed will be free too. This is truly a tragedy for the victims in this case,” Rahmani said of Gutierrez Reed.
CNN’s John Campbell, Sheri Mossberg, Julia Vargas Jones, Jack Hanna and Eric Levenson contributed to this report.
