Guilty pleasures
By NewsPress Now
Gun supervisor for ‘Rust’ movie gets 18 months in prison
SANTA FE, N.M. | A movie weapons supervisor was sentenced to 18 months in prison in the fatal shooting of a cinematographer by Alec Baldwin on the set of the Western film “Rust,” during a hearing Monday in which tearful family members and friends gave testimonials that included calls for justice and a punishment that would instill greater accountability for safety on film sets.
Movie armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed was convicted in March by a jury on a charge of involuntary manslaughter in the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and has been held for more than a month at a county jail on the outskirts of Santa Fe. Prosecutors blamed Gutierrez-Reed for unwittingly bringing live ammunition onto the set of “Rust,” where it was expressly prohibited, and for failing to follow basic gun safety protocols.
Gutierrez-Reed was unsuccessful in her plea for a lesser sentencing, telling the judge she was not the monster that people have made her out to be and that she had tried to do her best on the set despite not having “proper time, resources and staffing.”
Baldwin, the lead actor and co-producer for “Rust,” was pointing a gun at Hutchins during a rehearsal on a movie set outside Santa Fe in October 2021 when the revolver went off, killing Hutchins and wounding director Joel Souza.
Baldwin has pleaded not guilty to a charge of involuntary manslaughter. He is scheduled for trial in July at a courthouse in Santa Fe.
The sentence against Gutierrez-Reed was delivered by New Mexico Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer, who is overseeing proceedings against Baldwin. The judge said anything less than the maximum sentence would not be appropriate given that Gutierrez-Reed’s recklessness amounted to a serious violent offense.
“You were the armorer, the one that stood between a safe weapon and a weapon that could kill someone,” the judge told Gutierrez-Reed. “You alone turned a safe weapon into a lethal weapon. But for you, Ms. Hutchins would be alive, a husband would have his partner and a little boy would have his mother.”
Gutierrez-Reed teared up as Hutchins’ agent, Craig Mizrahi, spoke about the cinematographer’s creativity and described her as a rising star in Hollywood. He said it was a chain of events that led to Hutchins’ death and that if the armorer had been doing her job, that chain would have been broken.
Friends and family recalled Hutchins as courageous, tenacious and compassionate — a “bright beam of light” who could have gone on to accomplish great things within the film industry.
“I really feel that this was due to negligence,” Steven Metz, a close friend, testified. “This case needs to set a precedent for all the other actors, and cinematographers and every one on set whose lives are at risk when we have negligence in the hands of an armorer, a supposed armorer.”
Los Angeles-based attorney Gloria Allred read a statement by Hutchins’ mother, Olga Solovey, who said her life had been split in two and that time didn’t heal, rather it only prolonged her pain and suffering. A video of a tearful Solovey, who lives in Ukraine, also was played for the court.
“It’s the hardest thing to lose a child. There’s no words to describe,” Solovey said in her native language.
The Ukrainian relatives of Hutchins are seeking damages in her death from Baldwin in connection with the shooting. Allred said after Monday’s hearing that the family supports his criminal prosecution.
Defense attorneys for Gutierrez-Reed requested leniency in sentencing — including a possible conditional discharge that would avoid further jail time and leave an adjudication of guilt off her record if certain conditions are met.
Gutierrez-Reed was acquitted at trial of allegations she tampered with evidence in the “Rust” investigation. She also has pleaded not guilty to a separate felony charge that she allegedly carried a gun into a bar in Santa Fe where firearms are prohibited.
Defense attorneys have highlighted Gutierrez-Reed’s relatively young age “and the devastating effect a felony will have on her life going forward.”
They said the 26-year-old will forever be affected negatively by intense publicity associated with her prosecution in parallel with an A-list actor, and has suffered from anxiety, fear and depression as a result.
Special prosecutor Kari Morrissey urged the judge to impose the maximum prison sentence and designate Gutierrez-Reed as a “serious violent offender” to limit her eligibility for a sentence reduction later, describing the defendant’s behavior on the set of “Rust” as exceptionally reckless.
Morrissey told the judge Monday that she reviewed nearly 200 phone calls that Gutierrez-Reed had made from jail over the last month. She said she was hoping there would be a moment when the defendant would take responsibility for what happened or express genuine remorse.
“That moment has never come,” Morrissey said. “Ms. Gutierrez continues to refuse to accept responsibility for her role in the death of Halyna Hutchins.”
Defense attorneys argued Monday that Gutierrez-Reed was remorseful and had breakdowns over Hutchins’ death. They also pointed to systemic problems that led to the shooting.
“Rust” assistant director and safety coordinator Dave Halls last year pleaded no contest to negligent handling of a firearm and completed a sentence of six months unsupervised probation. “Rust” props master Sarah Zachry, who shared some responsibilities over firearms on the set, signed an agreement with prosecutors to avoid prosecution in return with her cooperation.
The pending firearms charge against Gutierrez-Reed stems from an incident at a bar in downtown Santa Fe, days before she was hired to work as the armorer on “Rust.” Prosecutors say investigations into the fatal shooting led to the discovery of a selfie video in which Gutierrez-Reed filmed herself carrying a firearm into the bar, while defense attorneys allege vindictive prosecution.
Judge set to hear motion to dismiss rapper Travis Scott from lawsuit
A judge in Texas is set to hear arguments Monday in rap star Travis Scott’s request to be dismissed from a lawsuit over the deadly 2021 Astroworld festival in Houston.
Scott headlined the concert during which 10 people were killed as authorities and festival organizers responded to a massive crowd surge and tried to shut down the show.
Last week, the judge dismissed lawsuits against hip-hop guest performer Drake along with several other individuals and companies involved in the show.
Attorneys for Scott, whose real name is Jacques Bermon Webster II and is also known as “Cactus Jack,” write in the motion to dismiss that he is a performer and had no role in providing security or crowd management for the festival.
“Performers are not expected to render special protection to the audience, nor to safeguard them from the rest of the crowd,” the motion said. “Performing artists, even those who engage in certain promotional activities, have no inherent expertise or specialized knowledge in concert safety measures.”
The motion said Scott followed instructions and ended the show after a performance by Drake by performing one final song because it was feared that an abrupt ending could have led to riots, panic and chaos in the crowd.
“Thus, due care also required taking the time to end the show properly, so that the crowd would feel satisfied and leave peacefully,” according to the document.
After an investigation by Houston police, no charges were filed against Scott and a grand jury declined to indict him and five other people on any criminal counts related to the deadly concert.
Those killed, who ranged in age from 9 to 27, died from compression asphyxia, which an expert likened to being crushed by a car.
The first trial from the lawsuits is scheduled for May 6.
Some of the lawsuits filed by the families of the 10 who died and hundreds who were injured have been settled, including those filed by the families of four of the dead.
Cardi B, Queen Latifah and The Roots to headline the BET Experience concerts
LOS ANGELES | Cardi B, Queen Latifah and The Roots will headline concerts to celebrate the return of the BET Experience in Los Angeles just days before the 2024 BET Awards.
BET announced Monday the star-studded lineup of the concert series, which makes a return after a five-year hiatus. It was canceled ahead of its 2020 event due to the coronavirus.
The BET Awards will take place June 30.
Cardi B, Gunna, Davido and Sexyy Red will perform June 28 at Crypto.com Arena. The Roots, Common, Latifah and Jungle Brothers are expected to hit the stage June 29 at the Hollywood Bowl.
More performers will be announced on a later date.
The BET Experience will also include the BET Fan Fest at the Los Angeles Convention Center featuring seminars on fashion, health, food and financial empowerment.
Survivors of 2017 Ariana Grande concert bombing take legal action
LONDON | More than 250 survivors of the bombing that killed 22 people at a 2017 Ariana Grande concert in Manchester, England, are taking legal action against Britain’s domestic intelligence agency, lawyers said.
Lawyers from three law firms said Sunday they have submitted a group claim on behalf of more than 250 clients to the U.K.’s investigatory powers tribunal. They said they could not provide further details because it was an ongoing legal matter.
Suicide bomber Salman Abedi set up a knapsack bomb in Manchester Arena at the end of Grande’s concert on May 22, 2017, as thousands of young fans were leaving. More than 100 people were injured, many of them children and teenagers. Abedi died in the explosion.
An official inquiry reported last year that Britain’s domestic intelligence agency, MI5, didn’t act swiftly enough on key information and missed a significant opportunity to prevent the bombing, the deadliest extremist attack in the U.K. in recent years.
Abedi had been a “subject of interest” to MI5 officials in 2014, but his case was closed shortly after because he was deemed to be low risk.
The report also found that one MI5 officer admitted they considered intelligence about Abedi to be a possible national security concern, but didn’t discuss it with colleagues quickly enough.
Ken McCallum, the head of MI5, said in a rare televised statement that he was “profoundly sorry” his agency was unable to prevent the attack.
—From AP reports
