Family of Halyna Hutchins Files Lawsuit Against Alec Baldwin, Producers In 'Rust' Shooting Death
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) – The family of Halyna Hutchins -- a cinematographer who was shot and killed on a New Mexico movie set last year -- has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against actor Alec Baldwin and the film's producers and certain crewmembers.
Attorneys held a news conference in Los Angeles Tuesday to announce the lawsuit, which was filed on behalf of Hutchins' widower, Matthew Hutchins, and their young son, Andros, claiming the "Rust" production company "breached the most basic rules of firearm use on a film production."
On the afternoon of Oct. 21, on the set of the Western "Rust," just outside Santa Fe, a single live round from a Pietta Colt .45 revolver fired by Baldwin struck and killed Hutchins and wounded the film's director, 48-year-old Joel Souza.
The 63-year-old Baldwin, one of the producers on the film, was inside a church building, sitting on a wooden pew, rehearsing unholstering his prop gun and pointing it at the camera when he fired it, according to one of several search warrants filed by Santa Fe County Sheriff's investigators. Hutchins was hit in the chest and Souza in the shoulder.
The firearm, which authorities confirmed was loaded with a live round, was "handled and/or inspected" by the film's armorer, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, and assistant director Dave Halls, prior to it being fired by Baldwin.
The gun was only supposed to be loaded with dummy rounds. According to sheriff's investigators, Halls handed Baldwin the prop gun and yelled that it was a "cold gun," meaning it was not loaded with live ammunition.
A total of about 500 rounds of ammunition were seized by investigators from the "Rust" movie set following the shooting. They included blanks, dummy rounds and what investigators suspect are other live rounds.
Attorney Brian Panish and his team Tuesday presented 15 purported "industry standards" that were "disregarded" by Baldwin and the rest of the producers and crew. Panish said producers' "reckless conduct and cost-cutting measures" directly led to the death of Hutchins.
Among the alleged violations were the failure to use a replica gun and failure to keep a finger off the trigger.
"There are regulations and guidelines in place today that should prevent something like this from happening, but they need to be enforced," Panish said. "And had they been followed, this never would have happened."
In an interview in December, Baldwin claimed he did not pull the trigger.
"Well the trigger wasn't pulled, I didn't pull the trigger," Baldwin told ABC News' George Stephanopoulos.
"I would never point a gun at anyone and pull the trigger, never," Baldwin said.
The Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office is conducting a criminal investigation into the shooting. No charges have yet been filed.
Panish released a video that included a video reenactment of the shooting and highlighted messages and emails among crew members talking about safety issues on the set, including previous accidental discharges of weapons. He stressed that there was no reason for Baldwin to have been wielding a weapon when the shooting occurred, since he was only helping to set up camera angles for a scene.
Multiple other lawsuits have already been filed over the shooting, including one on behalf of a script supervisor who was standing next to Hutchins when she was shot.
RELATED: 'Rust' Death Sparks New Mexico Gun Safety Bill For Actors
Aaron Dyer, an attorney for Alec Baldwin and other producers of "Rust," released a statement which read:
Everyone's hearts and thoughts remain with Halyna's family as they continue to process this unspeakable tragedy. We continue to cooperate with the authorities to determine how live ammunition arrived on the "Rust" set in the first place. Any claim that Alec was reckless is entirely false. He, Halyna and the rest of the crew relied on the statement by the two professionals responsible for checking the gun that it was a "cold gun" – meaning there is no possibility of a discharge, blank or otherwise. This protocol has worked on thousands of films, with millions of discharges, as there has never before been an incident on a set where an actual bullet harmed anyone. Actors should be able to rely on armorers and prop department professionals, as well as assistant directors, rather than deciding on their own when a gun is safe to use.
(© Copyright 2022 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. City News Service contributed to this report.)