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A choose denied Hannah Gutierrez Reed’s request for a new trial Friday.
The convicted “Rust” armorer may also keep in prison forward of her sentencing, regardless of plans to attraction the March 6 involuntary manslaughter conviction.
Gutierrez Reed’s lawyer, Jason Bowles, argued it is “unfair” to have the armorer probably serve her entire sentence if it’ll be reversed. The prosecution opposed her launch.
“Keep in mind, there was a death that the jury determined was caused by her. So, I’m not releasing her,” Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer said.
ALEC BALDWIN’S ‘RUST’ ARMORER’S DEMAND FOR NEW TRIAL ‘UPHILL BATTLE’ FOLLOWING CONVICTION: EXPERT
Sommer additionally denied Gutierrez Reed’s request for a new trial based mostly on jury instruction error.
“I’m very aware of what occurred at trial,” the choose mentioned earlier than explaining the explanations behind her resolution.
“The jury instructions in this case are distinguishable” from the circumstances introduced ahead in arguments by Gutierrez Reed’s authorized workforce, she mentioned.
Bowles had argued that the directions given throughout trial “could confuse the jury and lead to a non-unanimous verdict.”
Halyna Hutchins, the “Rust” cinematographer, died after being shot by a gun actor Alec Baldwin was holding whereas staging a scene in a small church at Bonanza Creek Ranch in 2021. Baldwin will head to courtroom for his personal involuntary manslaughter trial in July.
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The armorer’s trial, which started Feb. 21, included testimony from weapons specialists, FBI and Santa Fe County authorities and crew members who witnessed the deadly capturing.
Gutierrez Reed was discovered responsible of involuntary manslaughter on March 6. During Gutierrez Reed’s trial, the prosecution largely targeted on Gutierrez Reed’s habits as an armorer, claiming she did not do her job appropriately.
“Hannah Gutierrez knew that Baldwin was loose. She knew it,” Morrissey mentioned throughout closing arguments. “She didn’t do anything about it, even though it was her job. It was her job. It is her job to say to an A-list actor, if in fact, that’s what you want to call him, ‘Hey, you can’t behave that way with those firearms.’ That is her job. That is what they pay her for. That is the job that she applied for. That is the job that she accepted.”
However, her authorized workforce would not consider the jury was given correct directions. According to Gutierrez Reed’s lawyer, Jason Bowles, the directions “could confuse the jury and lead to a non-unanimous verdict.”
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Bowles cited a New Mexico Supreme Court ruling in a movement for a new trial in courtroom paperwork obtained by Fox News Digital.
“In Taylor, the Court reversed child abuse convictions on jury instruction error,” the paperwork state. “Specifically, the Court criticized the use of and/or in listing various acts the jury could find committed by the defendants. The Court also noted that such drafting of the instructions could confuse the jury and lead to a non-unanimous verdict on any particular act.”
Special prosecutors Kari Morrissey and Jason Lewis argued that the jury directions have been “neither confusing nor legally insufficient.”
“While the Court makes it clear that the use of ‘and/or’ should be avoided in jury instructions, the test for determining whether instructions are legally insufficient is far more complex,” the prosecution wrote in the reply, obtained by Fox News Digital.
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