A movie weapons armorer is appealing her conviction for involuntary manslaughter in the fatal shooting of a cinematographer by Alec Baldwin on the set of the western film Rust, according to court documents released Tuesday.
A defense attorney filed the shortly worded appeal notice as Hannah Gutierrez-Reed serves an 18-month sentence at a New Mexico penitentiary for women. Her attorneys have 30 days to submit detailed arguments.
Prosecutors blame Gutierrez-Reed for unwittingly bringing live ammunition on to the set of Rust, where it was expressly prohibited, and for failing to follow basic gun-safety protocols. A jury convicted her in state court in March.
Baldwin, the lead actor and co-producer of the film, was pointing a gun at cinematographer Halyna Hutchins during a rehearsal when the gun went off, killing her and wounding the director, Joel Souza.
Baldwin has pleaded not guilty to a charge of involuntary manslaughter and says he pulled back the hammer – but not the trigger – and the gun fired. His trial is scheduled for July.
Gutierrez-Reed was acquitted of an evidence-tampering charge at trial, and still confronts separate court proceedings on allegations that she carried a firearm into a bar in downtown Santa Fe.
A New Mexico judge last month found that Gutierrez-Reed’s recklessness on the Rust set amounted to a serious violent offense, noting few indications of genuine remorse over the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.
Gutierrez-Reed said at a sentencing hearing she had tried to do her best on the set despite not having “proper time, resources and staffing”, and that she was not the monster that people have made her out to be. Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer said the maximum sentence was appropriate.