By Andrew Hay
(Reuters) -Hannah Gutierrez, chief weapons handler for the film "Rust," will face a drug-related charge as part of her manslaughter trial next week in the 2021 fatal on-set shooting of the movie's cinematographer, a New Mexico judge ruled Wednesday.
New Mexico District Court Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer denied Gutierrez' request to exclude from the trial an evidence-tampering charge for allegedly giving a bag of cocaine to a crew member after the shooting to prevent police finding it.
Prosecutors contend Gutierrez' judgment may have been impaired on the day of the shooting by her use of marijuana, cocaine and alcohol on evenings after filming. They claim this could have led her to load a live round into actor Alec Baldwin's gun, mistaking it for a dummy round.
The reproduction Colt .45 Baldwin was rehearsing with fired the live round that killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and wounded director Joel Souza.
Should prosecutors convince jurors of a link between Gutierrez' alleged drug use and her failure to spot the live round, she could be judged to have shown criminal negligence and found guilty of involuntary manslaughter, legal experts said.
Her trial starts Feb. 21 in Santa Fe. She faces three felony charges from October 2021 -- involuntary manslaughter, evidence tampering and carrying a firearm into a bar. If she is convicted of the charges, all of which she has pleaded not guilty to, she could face over four years imprisonment.
Baldwin has pleaded not guilty to a charge of involuntary manslaughter. His trial date has not yet been set.
Also Wednesday, Marlowe rejected a request by prosecutors to exclude from evidence a state worker safety investigation that found the movie’s production company showed “plain indifference” to safety hazards ranging from weapons mishandling to accidental firearms discharges on set.