Alec Baldwin said Friday that he wants to clear the names of those involved in the handling and supply of the loaded gun he was using when he shot and killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins during a 2021 filming accident in New Mexico.
Baldwin filed a cross-complaint in Los Angeles Superior Court alleging negligence against some of the people sued by a script supervisor, Mamie Mitchell. Among other things, it is asking for a share of the damages that Mitchell may win from the people named by Baldwin and asking them to pay any damages awarded to him.
Mitchell was standing behind Hutchins, who died shortly after being injured while preparing for a scene in the Western film Rust at a movie ranch outside Santa Fe on October 21, 2021.
Mitchell sued Baldwin, who was a producer on the film, the production company and many others involved for assault and negligence.
The director was also shot
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 and pulled back and released the hammer of the weapon, which went off.
The shot fatally wounded Hutchins and director Joel Souza in the shoulder.
The actor said neither he nor Hutchins knew the gun contained a live bullet.
“This tragedy occurred on a movie set – not a gun range, not a battlefield, not a place where there should even be a remote possibility that a gun contained live ammunition.” the lawsuit said.
Baldwin said he was told the gun was safe and that he did not pull the trigger. But a recent FBI forensic report found the gun could not have fired unless the trigger was pulled.
“More than anyone else on that set, Baldwin has been wrongly seen as the author of this tragedy. Through these cross-claims, Baldwin seeks to clear his name,” the actor’s lawsuit says.
The investigator determined the shooting was an accident
Baldwin’s cross-complaint says he has lost opportunities and been fired from work because of the shooting and has also “suffered physically and emotionally from the pain caused by these events.”
The New Mexico Office of the Medical Examiner ruled the shooting an accident. However, prosecutors are reviewing the shooting to determine whether criminal charges should be filed.
In April, the New Mexico Office of Occupational Safety and Health imposed the maximum fine of US$137,000 on Rust Movie Productions and distributed a scathing narrative about safety failures, including testimony that production managers took took limited or no action to address two blank ammunition misfires on set earlier. to the deadly shooting.
Cinematographer Halyna Hutchins is seen in this undated handout photo obtained by Reuters on Oct. 23, 2021. (Swen Studios/Reuters)
The company is contesting the fine.
Baldwin’s lawsuit alleges negligence by gunsmith Hannah Guttierez-Reed; prop master Sarah Zachry; first assistant director and security coordinator David Halls, who handed Baldwin the gun; Ammunition supplier Seth Kenney and his company, PDQ Arm & Prop, who also supplied production support weapons.
All have previously denied responsibility for the fatal shooting.
In October, Hutchins’ family announced they had agreed to settle another lawsuit against the actor and the film’s producers, and the producers said they aimed to restart the project in January.
A lawyer for Ms. Gutierrez-Reed, Jason Bowles, said he was reviewing Baldwin’s lawsuit. Attorneys for 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.