Weapons expert ‘Rust’ denies being hungover on day of fatal shooting, calls allegation ‘recklessly false’

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The weapons expert charged in connection with the fatal shooting on the set of “Rust” denied on Thursday that he was intoxicated the day a live ammunition was inexplicably loaded into a prop gun.

Prosecutors said last week that gunsmith ‘Rust’ Hannah Gutierrez-Reed was likely ‘hungover’ the day Alec Baldwin received the gun he used on the set of the western in New Mexico .

“In response to a query about pretrial pretrial publicity, the new special prosecutors ‘doubled down’ and intentionally raised irrelevant inflammatory arguments in a further attempt to unfairly prejudge the public in this case against Hannah,” according to a filing by defense attorney Jason Bowles.

Cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, 42, was shot and killed on October 21, 2021, with the weapon wielded by actor Alec Baldwin.

“No witness ever said that Ms. Gutierrez-Reed was hungover on the day of the shooting,” Bowles wrote.

Hannah Gutierrez-Reed. (Sante Fe County Sheriff’s Office)

“These allegations have been widely reported across the country, causing extreme harm to Ms. Gutierrez-Reed, but no witnesses have been identified to date who would say Ms. Gutierrez-Reed was hungover.”

The defense reiterated its call for the manslaughter charges against Gutierrez-Reed to be dropped.

“It persisted through false and inflammatory pre-trial statements, failures to provide exculpatory evidence, and prosecutors taking significant steps without having any jurisdiction to do so,” according to his lawyer. “This case is fatally tainted, for all the reasons discussed here and in the original motion, and must be dismissed.”

Special Prosecutor Kari Morrissey defended her office’s work and the case it is building against the defendant.

“Ms. Gutierrez-Reed is not being treated unfairly. The state will continue to act ethically and fairly in pursuing this case,” Morrissey said in a statement to NBC News Friday afternoon.

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“Ms. Gutierrez-Reed is not the victim in this case and the state will continue to prosecute Ms. Gutierrez-Reed for the death of a talented young cinematographer who leaves behind a husband and young son.”

The charges against Baldwin were dropped, without prejudice, in April. Filming for the western has wrapped in Montana.

This article originally appeared on NBCNews.com

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