Alec Baldwin sees Rust’s negligence trial in LA put on hold while criminal proceedings progress in New Mexico

Alec Baldwin has one down rust Try worrying now.

Two counts of involuntary manslaughter in New Mexico for the fatal shooting in October 2021 rust The cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, the actor got some breathing room before the Californian courts.

In response to a petition by lawyers for Baldwin, rust Producers and other defendants, as well as prosecutor Maime Mitchell, in their negligence suit, a Los Angeles Superior Court judge postponed the civil trial and the actor’s risk of self-incrimination until next year, after the expected criminal trial, The Wizarding Land is destroy. over.

In an order (read here) signed Tuesday by LASC Judge Michael E. Whitaker, he determined that “the trial date will be from May 17, 2023 to February 21, 2024 or so soon thereafter in accordance with the calendar and.” the court continues. .”

“The parties believe that proceeding with the litigation and all related data is in the best interest of all parties by allowing the parties to maximize good faith settlement negotiations and full disclosure.” it in the arrangement with reference to a possible settlement in the future.

Regardless of an agreement or not, this type of stay is a standard step in cases where criminal and civil matters overlap, as Bill Cosby and Danny Masterson noted in recent rape trials and their own trials. Whitaker’s order comes as Baldwin and his rust Gunsmith Hannah Gutierrez-Reed is scheduled to appear Thursday before New Mexico State Judge Mary Marlow Sommer at a virtual status conference/hearing in the criminal case. Because attorneys from all sides will be present, as well as Santa Fe District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies, the hearing is expected to include a preliminary hearing in the case. A date for Baldwin’s request to disqualify special prosecutor and GOP federal lawmaker Andrea Reeb could also be added to the calendar Thursday.

With all this and a resurrected one rust With filming reportedly starting soon in Montana, it may be a while before Baldwin and Reed are actually brought to justice. The duo, now behind bars for 18 months and facing fines in Hutchins’ death, may still try to reach a settlement with prosecutors rust First Assistant Director David Halls did it.

Just weeks after Hutchins’ death on October 21, 2021, Baldwin sat down with ABC’s George Stephanopoulos for a prime-time interview in which he insisted he was with the accused UN who killed cameraman and injured director Joel Souza, ” not the trigger”. Baldwin’s claim was not supported by the FBI in its analysis of the incident and the gun, as detailed in a 551-page report released in November 2022 by the Santa Fe Sheriff’s Office. On Jan. 31, Baldwin was reported to be absent and neglected essential firearms and safety training rust.

After being found not guilty in the criminal case on February 23, Baldwin scored a major victory last month when a gun reform law that imposed a mandatory five-year sentence was overturned by the district attorney’s office amid cries of unconstitutionality from the defense teams.

But in a case that won’t be an easy task for prosecutors, no one noticed live ammunition rounds landing on them rust Sentence.

To this point, and one of the first in a series of lawsuits now being filed in courts in the Golden State and New Mexico, rust Screenwriter Mitchell filed her lawsuit on November 17, 2021 against Baldwin, indie western producers Reed, Halls, real estate champion Sarah Zachry and others.

Mitchell, represented by Gloria Allred, was almost directly next to Hutchins and Souza at the Bonanza Creek Ranch church when the 1880s Baldwin prop pistol went off during a rehearsal. In early November 2022, Whitaker dismissed Baldwin’s attempt to get out of the lawsuit. He also denied a motion by Baldwin and his El Dorado Pictures Inc to drop the screenwriter’s claim for damages.

In response, on November 11, 2022, Baldwin hit back with a lawsuit seeking mutual negligence and indemnification against Reed, Halls, Zachry and back rust Gun and cartridge supplier Seth Kenney.

This case is also adjourned until next year.