**New Mexico Judge Denies New Trial for "Rust" Armorer, Upholds Conviction**

A judge in New Mexico has denied "Rust" armorer Hannah Gutierrez Reed’s plea for a new trial, maintaining her involuntary manslaughter conviction related to the 2021 fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins. As a result, Gutierrez Reed remains in custody to serve the remainder of her 18-month prison sentence.

The incident, which occurred on October 21, 2021, involved actor Alec Baldwin firing a prop gun loaded with a live round, killing Hutchins and injuring the film’s director. Gutierrez Reed, who was responsible for firearms on the set of the western film, was found guilty in March of this year for negligence and safety protocol violations, which resulted in six live rounds being present on set.

Prosecutors at her trial emphasized her repeated breaches of safety protocols, arguing that her negligence directly led to the tragic incident. Conversely, her defense contended that she was unfairly made a scapegoat for broader safety lapses by the film's management and other crew members.

During a related trial in July, Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer dismissed charges against Alec Baldwin, citing prosecutorial misconduct. The judge criticized the prosecution for deliberately withholding evidence, leading to the case’s dismissal with prejudice, thus preventing any future trials on the matter.

Assistant director David Halls, who also faced charges, accepted a plea deal in 2023, receiving a sentence of six months of unsupervised probation for negligent use of a deadly weapon.

In their July motion, Gutierrez Reed's legal team argued that her conviction should be overturned or retried due to significant prosecutorial misconduct and numerous discovery violations by the state. The judge’s recent decision reinforces her stance on the original conviction, keeping Gutierrez Reed behind bars for the remainder of her sentence.