Alec Baldwin filed a cross-complaint regarding the shooting death on-set “Rust” cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, alleging in a lawsuit filed Friday that the blame lies with three of the film’s crew members, as well as the man who supplied ammunition to the set.
Baldwin named Hannah Gutierrez – Reed, David Halls, Seth Kenney, PDQ Arm and Prop, LLC“PDQ”Together, Sarah Zachry and ) “cross-defendants” in a suit originally filed against him last year by Mamie Mitchell, the film’s script supervisor. In his suit, he claims that he relied on the four of them to do their jobs and that Hutchins’ death was a result of their negligence and, as a result, Baldwin says has experienced “immense grief”They suffered an “emotional, physical and financial toll.”
“The negligence of Gutierrez-Reed, Halls, Kenney, PDQ, and Zachry has caused Baldwin substantial harm,” Baldwin’s complaint reads. “Over the last year, Baldwin has suffered substantial damage as a result of the events on October 21. He has suffered physically and emotionally from the grief caused by these events. Not a day goes by that he doesn’t think about, and suffer from, the events that happened that day. Baldwin has also lost numerous job opportunities and associated income. For example, he’s been fired from multiple jobs expressly because of the incident on Rust and has been passed over for other opportunities, which is a direct result of the negligence of Cross-Defendants Gutierrez-Reed, Halls, Kenney, PDQ, and Zachry.”
“More than anyone else on that set,” the actor’s attorney, Luke Nikas of Quinn Emanuel, wrote, “Baldwin has been wrongfully viewed as the perpetrator of this tragedy. By these Cross-Claims, Baldwin seeks to clear his name and hold Cross-Defendants accountable for their conduct.”
Baldwin “demands a trial by jury”And searches “compensatory, nominal, statutory, and punitive damages where applicable to Cross-Complainant in an amount to be determined at trial, including any damages arising out of Plaintiff Mitchell’s claims in this lawsuit.”
Baldwin was carrying a Colt.45 revolver on Oct. 21, 2021 when the gun went off while he was preparing for a scene in Santa Fe, New Mexico. He has asserted that he pulled the hammer back, although not far enough to cock it, and then released it – causing the gun to fire. He stated that he didn’t pull the trigger.
The Colt .45 should have contained dummy rounds, which contain neither projectile nor charge, but it was loaded instead with one live round, which passed through Hutchins’ body and lodged in the shoulder of director Joel Souza.
The Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office recently completed its criminal investigation, and local prosecutors are currently considering whether to file charges against Baldwin or any of the other crew members. The cross-complaint, which amounts to a lengthy and detailed exoneration of Baldwin by his civil lawyers, is what we call a cross-complaint. It includes text messages and photos from the Sheriff’s investigation.
The document criticizes Gutierrez Reed, the armorer for not having “failed to perform her job carefully and as a result, a live round was loaded into a gun that she had negligently failed to identify.”
According to the suit “Gutierrez-Reed failed to check the bullets or the gun carefully, Halls failed to check the gun carefully and yet announced the gun was safe before handing it to Baldwin.”
Baldwin accuses David Halls (first assistant director) of not having checked the gun thoroughly and faults his decision to declare the gun to be. “cold”Baldwin received it and stated that there were no charges.
The cross-complaint also accuses Sarah Zachry, propmaster, of failing to properly supervise Gutierrez Reed, and failing to keep a safe set. Baldwin accuses Seth Kenney of failing to supervise Gutierrez Reed and maintaining a safe set. “cavalier disregard for proper separation between live and dummy ammunition.”All four previously denied culpability. Kenney was accused of supplying Gutierrez Reed with live ammunition that resembled dummy bullets, which she has denied.
Gloria Allred is representing Mitchell. Mitchell claims she was just four feet away at the time that the gun went off. Mitchell also alleges that she experienced painful ringing and emotional trauma. Baldwin deliberately lied to her, she says. “cocked and fired the loaded gun even though the upcoming scene to be filmed did not call for the cocking and firing of a firearm.”
Baldwin has tried to throw out the suit, arguing that on-set accidents are the exclusive domain of New Mexico workers’ compensation system.
A Los Angeles judge denied his motion on Nov. 1, 2022.