SANTA FE, N.M. — In the middle of his high-profile trial, a New Mexico judge dismissed charges against actor Alec Baldwin for his reported role in the "Rust" movie shooting.
Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer said it was due to law enforcement and prosecutors concealing evidence from Baldwin's defense attorney.
Baldwin was facing 18 months in prison for involuntary manslaughter charges from the 2021 shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.
Following the judge's decision, the attorney representing Arizona armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed is now calling for his client's sentence to be dismissed as well.
Gutierrez-Reed was responsible for handling firearms on set. In March, she was sentenced to 18 months in prison after being found guilty of involuntary manslaughter.
In a statement to 12News, her attorney Jason Bowles said:
“The judge found intentional misconduct and we also have had the same failures in Hannah’s case, by the State. We will be moving for dismissal of Hannah’s case.”
Phoenix attorney Benjamin Taylor, who is not involved in the case, said it is possible Gutierrez-Reed's case could be dismissed because of the ruling with Baldwin.
"If the prosecutor was hiding evidence, and that disclosing evidence of Alec Baldwin's case, this could be very similar to Hannah's case, and her case can be just thrown out, too," Taylor said.
The allegations against the prosecutors in this case are very serious Taylor said, adding that Gutierrez-Reed's attorney could file an expedited motion to get in front of a judge as soon as possible to hear the case and new evidence and possibly overturn the sentence.
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