Recommendations of the Editorial team
In one serious legal setback For Alec Baldwin, a judge in Los Angeles decided on Friday (April 17) that the actor must answer in a civil lawsuit. He is accused of negligently firing a firearm on the set of the western film “Rust” in New Mexico.
Baldwin had requested that Rust’s gaffer Serge Svetnoy’s lawsuit be dismissed entirely. He argued that the crew member – who was standing just feet away when Baldwin fired a revolver, fatally striking camerawoman Halyna Hutchins on October 21, 2021 – had provided “no evidence” that he was responsible for security on set or had any influence on props or personnel decisions. As an actor, Baldwin said, he had no duty to check whether the gun was loaded or to handle it accordingly.
But the judge was not convinced. In his ruling, Judge Maurice Leiter found that Svetnoy had presented sufficient evidence that Baldwin had a degree of control over the film’s budget, cast, crew and day-to-day operations. “This is sufficient to establish a triable issue of fact regarding the defendant’s security obligations,” Judge Leiter wrote in his ruling, obtained by ROLLING STONE.
Emotional stress remains an issue
The judge also accepted Svetnoy’s claim for intentional infliction of emotional distress. “A reasonable jury could conclude that Mr. Baldwin recklessly disregarded the likelihood that pointing a firearm at someone with his finger on the trigger would cause emotional harm,” the decision said.
Baldwin prevailed on one point: the personal injury lawsuit was dismissed. The court found there was no evidence that “Baldwin intended to harm plaintiff or anyone else.”
The judge also agreed to cancel the trial date originally scheduled for May 26 and postpone the hearing for more than four months. Baldwin’s attorneys did not immediately respond to ROLLING STONE’s request for comment.
Svetnoy’s lawyers react
“We applaud the court’s decision to deny the motions to dismiss filed by Rust Movie Productions and Alec Baldwin. These rulings will allow our client to argue his case before a jury, now scheduled for October of this year. He looks forward to finally having his day in court in this long-pending matter,” Svetnoy’s attorneys Gary Dordick and John Upton told Rolling Stone.
After the fatal shooting on the set in Santa Fe, Baldwin faced a charge of involuntary manslaughter, which was dramatically dropped during the trial. He also faced civil lawsuits from several crew members and members of the Hutchins family.
Hutchins’ husband has already reached an out-of-court settlement with Baldwin and the film’s producers. However, her mother Olga Solovey continues to sue the actor in New Mexico along with Mamie Mitchell, the continuity manager of “Rust”. Mitchell originally sued in Los Angeles before her claims were moved to Santa Fe. The most recent amended statement of claim contains similar allegations: assault, negligence and emotional distress.
Gloria Allred continues to fight
“Our legal team continues to fight hard for our clients. We recently took Alec Baldwin’s deposition under oath and we will be completing it at another date soon,” attorney Gloria Allred, who represents Solovey and Mitchell, told Rolling Stone.
