By Andrew Hay
(Reuters) - The armorer for the movie "Rust" allegedly transferred cocaine to an unnamed person to dispose of evidence on the day the film's cinematographer was shot dead in 2021, special prosecutors said as they sought protection for a witness.
The armorer, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, passed a small bag of cocaine to the witness on the evening of Oct. 21, 2021, after a police interview "to prevent law enforcement from obtaining highly inculpatory evidence directly related to the defendant's handling of the firearm," prosecutors said in a court filing on Thursday.
Cinematographer Halyna Hutchins died after Gutierrez-Reed said she mistakenly loaded a live round into a revolver actor Alec Baldwin was rehearsing with, according to a transcript of a police interview.
Prosecutors last week charged Gutierrez-Reed, 25, with an additional charge of tampering with evidence over the alleged transfer of narcotics. She already faced a charge of involuntary manslaughter and plans to plead not guilty to both indictments, according to her lawyer Jason Bowles.
Bowles on Friday said the new accusation lacked corroboration or evidence.
"Like everything else with the state's case and investigation, it's full of sound and fury, but signifying nothing," Bowles said in a statement.
Gutierrez-Reed is the only person still facing charges for Hutchins' death after prosecutors dismissed charges against Baldwin and reached a plea agreement with first assistant director Dave Halls.
In the Thursday court filing, prosecutors requested the witness’ identity be protected, saying the person feared being blacklisted from the film industry.