The “Rust” case continues to face challenges for prosecutors, with a recent mishap causing further issues. As a special prosecutor revived charges against Alec Baldwin in the shooting death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, there was yet another problem that emerged.
Hannah Gutierrez Reed, Baldwin’s co-defendant and the armorer on the film set of “Rust,” is seeking to have her case thrown out due to the mishandling of attorney-client communications by the prosecutor. Kari Morrissey inadvertently turned over hundreds of text messages between Gutierrez Reed and her lawyer to a key witness last July.
Gutierrez Reed is scheduled to go on trial next month for involuntary manslaughter and evidence tampering. She mistakenly loaded a live bullet into Baldwin’s gun, resulting in the tragic death of Hutchins and the injury of the film’s director, Joel Souza. If convicted, Gutierrez Reed could face up to three years in prison.
In a motion filed by her attorney, Jason Bowles, it was argued that the special prosecutor engaged in “outrageous” misconduct by disclosing the attorney-client texts to the witness, Seth Kenney, who supplied guns and dummy ammunition to the production. The text messages included discussions about a defense strategy that involved Kenney’s responsibility for mixing live rounds with dummies.
Bowles further claimed that Kenney had been actively involved in steering the narrative of the investigation and influencing whom to prosecute. He argued that this disclosure has compromised Gutierrez Reed’s ability to receive a fair trial with an untainted fact-finding process, and called for the dismissal of the indictment.
Morrissey took over the case last March and obtained the raw data from Gutierrez Reed’s cell phone as part of an independent review of the evidence. Although Gutierrez Reed and Bowles had signed a consent form allowing the search, Bowles had made it clear that attorney-client communications were not to be included.
However, Morrissey later discovered that she had received attorney-client texts and promptly deleted them without reviewing the content. Unfortunately, by that point, she had already provided the raw data to Kenney, who had requested it under the state’s open records law. Although Kenney promised to delete his copy, he had already sent the data to his lawyer.
The motion filed by Bowles proposed several remedies, including the suppression of Kenney’s testimony at trial. However, he highlighted that this would not fully resolve the issue, as Kenney is an essential witness for the defense. Other options, such as the recusal of the special prosecutor or the destruction of the attorney-client material, were also mentioned but deemed insufficient.
The defense also brought attention to Sarah Zachry, the film’s prop master, who signed a cooperation agreement with prosecutors. The defense alleged that Zachry may have thrown some rounds in the trash after the shooting, potentially at Kenney’s direction.
A pre-trial hearing is scheduled for next Thursday in Santa Fe, where further deliberations related to these issues will take place.