Rust Armorer Allegedly Had Cocaine, Too?!

Things are not looking good for armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed amid her involuntary manslaughter case…

As Perezcious readers know, Alec Baldwin accidentally fired a gun on the set of the movie Rust in October of 2021, hitting both cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and director Joel Souza. Hutchins ended up passing away from the shooting. Following an investigation into the tragedy, the 65-year-old actor was initially charged with involuntary manslaughter along with Hannah.

While Alec’s charges were later dropped, the armorer’s legal battle has continued. But Hannah is now dealing with more than just an involuntary manslaughter charge! Per The New York Times, prosecutors Kari Morrissey and Jason Lewis also charged her with evidence tampering last week. No, not the gun. They claim she handed over drugs to someone else back in October 2021 in order to prevent criminal prosecution.

The prosecutors kept information under wraps about the situation at the time. However, they’ve finally provided details about the new charge in a motion filed on Thursday, claiming they have a witness who will testify that Hannah passed cocaine off to them after her police interview on the day of the shooting. What?!

Following the tragedy two years ago, Hannah sat down for an interview with the police from the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office on the night of October 21, 2021. She told investigators that she loaded Alec’s revolver with what she thought were six dummy rounds — but of course, we know that the gun actually contained a live round. Prosecutors also have since claimed Hannah was most likely hungover when she loaded the weapon, as she “was drinking heavily and smoking marijuana in the evenings during the shooting of Rust.” But the party was apparently more than just alcohol and weed…

In the filing, the prosecutors claimed that the armorer gave their witness “a small bag of cocaine” after returning from her initial interview with the authorities that day! In doing so, they feel Hannah interfered with the investigation into Halyna’s death by stopping them from getting this evidence from her:

“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 to the defendant’s handling of the firearm and the circumstances of the fatal shooting of Halyna Hutchins.”

Yikes. As we said before, things aren’t looking good for Hannah…

As for the identity of this witness? Well, prosecutors are requesting that a judge allow that person — who was described only as S1 and an employee in the film industry — to have their identity remain anonymous for the time being. They say the witness is worried about being “blacklisted” from the business and hounded by the media if their name is revealed to the public.

However, Hannah’s attorney Jason Bowles questioned the fact that a mystery witness has suddenly come forward with new details 20 months after the shooting. He said in a statement to The New York Times on Friday:

“And the state won’t identify the person? This is a throwback to the secret, star chamber prosecutions in England in the 15th century that were abolished. Like everything else with the state’s case and investigation, it’s full of sound and fury, but signifying nothing.”

Prosecutors recognized in their filing that the witness will most likely have their identity revealed at some point. For now, though, they’re trying to keep it concealed for as long as possible.

A judge will determine if the charges against Hannah will move forward in August, so everyone has to wait to see if this new evidence has an impact on the case then.

Reactions to the latest in the Rust case, Perezcious readers? Does it change how YOU feel about Hannah’s alleged mistake? Let us know in the comments below.

[Image via MEGA/WENN, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed/Facebook]