March 30 (UPI) -- Convicted Rust film armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed must remain jailed while awaiting a sentencing hearing and can't have a retrial, a New Mexico judge has ruled.
District Court Judge Mary Marlowe-Sommer on Friday ruled against requests made by Gutierrez-Reed's attorneys asking the court to overturn her conviction, grant a retrial and order her released her from jail as she awaits an April 15 sentencing, Variety reported.
A jury on March 6 found Gutierrez-Reed guilty of involuntary manslaughter in the accidental shooting death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins when a pistol actor Alec Baldwin held discharged a round that killed her and injured a director while on the film set near Santa Fe in October 2021.
Gutierrez-Reed faces up to 18 months in prison and a $5,000 fine.
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In seeking a retrial, her attorneys pointed to a ruling in another case by the New Mexico Supreme Court earlier this month in which it reversed convictions due to jury instruction errors. They argued the jury in Gutierrez-Reed's trial was given similarly confusing instructions.
The state, however, asserted the two cases are very different and the high court ruling has no bearing on Gutierrez-Reed's trial and conviction.
Prosecutors successfully argued Gutierrez-Reed brought live bullets to the film set in violation of film industry safety rules and didn't check the rounds loaded into the revolver Baldwin was handling when it fired the live round that killed Hutchins and injured another.
Baldwin has a July trial scheduled in which is he charged with involuntary manslaughter for handling the revolver and allegedly pulling the trigger. Baldwin says he did not pull the trigger and is innocent.
