Prosecutors in the “Rust” case allege that the film’s armorer handed a bag of cocaine to another person on the evening after Halyna Hutchins was killed.
Hannah Gutierrez-Reed was charged last week with evidence tampering for allegedly handing off the drugs in October 2021. Prosecutors allege that by doing so, she interfered with the investigation into Hutchins’ death.
Gutierrez-Reed was already facing a charge of involuntary manslaughter for loading a live round into Alec Baldwin’s gun. The prosecution has claimed that Gutierrez-Reed was drinking and smoking marijuana in the evenings during the production, and may have been hungover at the time of the shooting.
Baldwin was initially charged as well for negligently firing the weapon and killing the cinematographer, but those charges were dropped.
In a motion filed Thursday, the prosecutors say they have a confidential witness will testify that Gutierrez-Reed handed off the drugs after returning from her initial police interview.
“The circumstances of the transfer of evidence strongly support the charge that the defendant transferred the cocaine to avoid prosecution and prevent law enforcement from obtaining highly inculpatory evidence directly related the defendant’s handling of the firearm and the circumstances of the fatal shooting of Halyna Hutchins,” the prosecutors wrote.
The special prosecutors, Kari Morrissey and Jason Lewis, are seeking an order that would keep the witness’ identity a secret. According to the motion, the witness fears being “blacklisted” from the film industry for coming forward.
Gutierrez-Reed’s lawyer, Jason Bowles, has opposed that request.
“The state wants to publish salacious allegations about Ms. Gutierrez-Reed in a secret procedure, which is not condoned by the rules or constitution,” Bowles said in an email. “If the state really believes these allegations, why the secrecy?”
The prosecutors acknowledge that the witness’ identity will become public eventually, but say the person wishes to remain anonymous for as long as possible.
Bowles has sought to have the case thrown out, citing numerous irregularities and missteps by the prosecution. He previously stated that the tampering charge was “retaliatory and vindictive,” and that it was filed without providing notice or witness statements ahead of time.
Gutierrez-Reed has been scheduled to make a first appearance on the new charge on July 19, via Google Meets. A preliminary hearing is scheduled to begin Aug. 9 and is expected to last about a week.
Last week, the D.A.’s former investigator, Robert Shilling, sent an email to prosecutors in which he called the Sheriff’s Office’s handling of the case “reprehensible and unprofessional.” Shilling accidentally copied the defense on the email.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
