Alec Baldwin said Friday he wants to clear his name, suing the people involved in handling and supplying the loaded gun he used when he shot and killed cameraman Halyn Hutchins during a 2021 shoot in New Mexico.
Baldwin filed a cross-complaint in Los Angeles Superior Court alleging negligence against certain people sued by head writer Mamie Mitchell. Among other things, he is seeking a share of any damages Mitchell may receive from people named by Baldwin and demanding that they pay any damages assessed against him.
Mitchell stood behind Hutchins, who died shortly after being injured while setting up a scene in the western film Rust at Film Ranch in suburban Santa Fe on October 21, 2021.
Mitchell sued Baldwin, who was the film’s producer, the production company and many others involved for assault and negligence.
The director was also shot and injured
In his cross-complaint, Baldwin says that while working on camera angles with Hutchins during a scene rehearsal, he pointed the gun in her direction, pulled back and released the hammer of the gun, which fired.
The shot fatally wounded Hutchins and director Joel Souza in the shoulder.
The actor said neither he nor Hutchins knew the gun contained live ammunition.
“This tragedy occurred on a movie set – not on a shooting range, not on a battlefield, not in a place where there was even a remote possibility that the weapon contained live ammunition,” the lawsuit states.
Baldwin claimed he was told the gun was safe and that he did not pull the trigger. But a recent FBI forensics report found that the gun could not have fired unless the trigger was pulled.
“More than anyone else on this stage, Baldwin has been wrongfully blamed for this tragedy. Through these cross-claims, Baldwin seeks to clear his name,” the actor’s lawsuit states.
An investigator ruled the shooting an accident
Baldwin’s cross-complaint says he lost opportunities and was fired from his job because of the shooting, and also “suffered physically and emotionally from the grief caused by these events.”
The New Mexico Medical Examiner’s Office ruled the shooting an accident. However, prosecutors are reviewing the shooting to determine if criminal charges should be filed.
In April, the New Mexico Office of Health and Safety imposed the maximum fine of $137,000 on Rust Movie Productions and circulated a scathing tale of safety failures, including testimony that production managers took little or no action to address two misfires of blank ammunition prior to filming. to the fatal shooting.
The company is contesting the fine.
Baldwin’s lawsuit alleges the negligence of gunsmith Hannah Guttierez-Reed; prop designer Sarah Zachry; first assistant principal and security coordinator David Halls, who handed Baldwin the gun; ammunition supplier Seth Kenney and his company PDQ Arm & Prop, which also supplied prop guns to the production.
All have previously denied responsibility for the fatal shooting.
In October, Hutchins’ family announced that they had agreed to settle another lawsuit against the actor and the film’s producers, and the producers said they wanted to restart the project in January.
Ms. Gutierrez-Reed’s lawyer, Jason Bowles, said he was reviewing Baldwin’s lawsuit. Attorneys for the other defendants did not immediately respond to requests for comment, the New York Times reported.
A phone message left by The Associated Press seeking comment from Bowles was not immediately returned Friday night.
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