The judge is considering a retrial of the gunsmith in the fatal shooting on the Alec Baldwin film set

In a remote court hearing, a lawyer for Hannah Gutierrez-Reed challenged her involuntary manslaughter conviction in March, claiming prosecutors failed to turn over evidence, including ammunition, that could have been exculpatory in the shooting on the set of the Western film Rust 2021.

Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer is reconsidering the gunsmith’s felony conviction after dismissing a manslaughter case against Baldwin mid-trial on similar grounds.

Jason Bowles, Gutierrez-Reed’s lead defense attorney, said: “This pattern of misuse of (evidence) discovery occurred in the same manner in Ms. Gutierrez-Reed’s case as it did in Mr. Baldwin’s case.”

Baldwin, the lead actor and co-producer of Rust, was pointing a gun at cinematographer Halyna Hutchins during a rehearsal at a film farm outside Santa Fe in October 2021 when the revolver exploded, killing Ms. Hutchins and wounding director Joel Souza.

Baldwin said he pulled back the hammer – but not the trigger – and fired the revolver.

Ms. Marlowe Sommer dismissed the case against Baldwin due to the police and prosecutor’s withholding of evidence.

The evidence closing the case was ammunition brought to the sheriff’s office in March by a man who said it might be linked to Ms. Hutchins’ killing.

Prosecutors said they considered the ammunition irrelevant and unimportant, while Baldwin’s lawyers claimed they “buried” it and filed a successful motion to dismiss the case.

In her decision to dismiss the Baldwin case, Ms. Marlowe Sommer described “egregious disclosure failures that constitute misconduct by law enforcement and prosecutors” as well as false statements by a witness about physical evidence during the trial.

Special prosecutor Kari Morrissey said at Thursday’s hearing that Gutierrez-Reed’s defense attorney knew about the ammunition in question before the gunsmith’s trial but refused to enter it into court records or have it tested to determine whether it was There was rust consistent with live ammunition on set.

Mr Bowles said he did not collect the ammunition himself because he feared it would alter the chain of evidence and potentially exclude the evidence from consideration at trial.

He called on the judge to remove Ms. Morrissey from the case if the case was reopened and called for Gutierrez-Reed’s immediate release from custody.

Gutierrez-Reed began serving an 18-month sentence in March and has appealed the jury’s guilty verdict to a state appeals court.

Prosecutors accused Gutierrez-Reed of unintentionally bringing live ammunition to the set and failing to follow basic gun safety protocols.

She was acquitted at trial of allegations that she had tampered with evidence in the Rust investigation.

Gutierrez-Reed also pleaded not guilty to a separate felony charge for allegedly carrying a gun into a bar in Santa Fe, New Mexico, where firearms are banned.

A proposed settlement awaits judicial review.

Gutierrez-Reed’s lawyers also said prosecutors failed to disclose portions of pretrial interviews with Rust ammunition supplier Seth Kenney — as well as reports from firearms expert Lucien Haag and correspondence with veteran film gunsmith Bryan Carpenter — that changed the outcome could The Trial of the Armorer.