Just days before the Santa Fe prosecutor is expected to announce her intentions in the fatal shooting rust Alec Baldwin’s cinematographer Halyna Hutchins led the actor on Friday to hit crew members of last year’s indie western with a negligence lawsuit.
Filed on a day when Los Angeles Superior Court is closed for the Veterans Day holiday, the photo- and email-heavy counterclaim alleges negligence and name damage rust Gunsmith Hannah Gutierrez Reed, First Assistant Director David Halls, House Manager Sarah Zachry, and gun and cartridge supplier Seth Kenney and corporations as defendants.
“This tragedy happened because live bullets were delivered on set and loaded into the gun, Gutierrez-Reed did not carefully examine the bullets or the gun, Halls did not carefully examine the gun, yet announced that the gun was safe is before he went to Baldwin. ” went on. , and Zachry failed to disclose that Gutierrez-Reed acted recklessly and posed a safety hazard to those around her,” Luke Nikas, Baldwin’s attorney at Quinn Emanuel, said in the complaint ( read it here).
A wrongful death lawsuit involving Hutchin’s husband and family was recently settled and is set to be preserved rust Baldwin is back on track and has long said he never pulled the trigger on the 1880s pistol he pointed at Hutchins on Oct. 21, 2021.
In a move that could backfire on Baldwin, today’s filing highlights how the aftermath of the shooting has affected his career.
“Baldwin also lost countless jobs and related income,” it said. “For example, he was fired from several jobs because of the incident rust and was transferred for other occasions as a direct result of the negligence of cross-defendants Gutierrez-Reed, Halls, Kenney, PDQ, and Zachry.
Comes just over a week after Baldwin failed to convince an LASC judge to remove him rust Mamie Mitchell’s own negligent conduct in dismissing the case, Friday’s filing also alleges that the Emmy winner suffered personal consequences from the gruesome October 2021 incident.
“More than anyone else on this set, Baldwin is unfairly considered the perpetrator of this tragedy,” the actor’s lawyer wrote of his client. “Through these cross-claims, Baldwin seeks to clear his name and hold cross-suspects accountable for their wrongdoing.”
“There is no doubt that others have suffered far more from the negligence of the counter-defendants than Baldwin,” the lawsuit continued that day on the set at Bonanza Creek Ranch, just outside of Santa Fe, New Mexico. “Hutchins lost her life and her young child lost his mother,” reads the jury’s complaint. “Producer Joel Souza was shot in the shoulder and suffered physical and mental pain. Although in no way comparable, Baldwin must live with the immense grief and resulting emotional, physical and financial toll caused by the negligent actions, assurances and surveillance of counter-suspects, which left him with a loaded gun, which left him led, Hutchins and everyone else on the set believed his purposeful use of the gun was safe.
Representatives for the defendants on the cross-indictment did not respond to Deadline’s request for comment on today’s filing.
Mitchell is not a defendant in the Cross-Complaint. However, Gloria Allred certainly had something to say for her client about Friday’s filing. “Baldwin’s mutual accusations are an embarrassment to shift blame, as he has done since he fired the fatal shot that killed Ms. Hutchins and injured our client, Mamie Mitchell,” Allred said. “He claims that everyone else was negligent and that everyone failed. It seems that Mr. Baldwin claims that he is the only one who is truly innocent.”
“One last thing I want to say to you, Mr. Baldwin – take responsibility for your actions,” Allred continued. “I am not suggesting that others do not share some responsibility for what happened. However, when you look in the mirror, you see the person who we believe bears the greatest responsibility for what happened on the set of Rust, New Mexico, on that tragic day.”
In one of the many lawsuits currently pending in court related to the shooting, Mitchell initially filed her lawsuit against Baldwin, rust Producers and crew members Gutierrez-Reed, Halls, Zachry and others on November 17, 2021. Mitchell was standing near Hutchins and Souza when Baldwin held the gun. On Nov. 1, Judge Michael E. Whitaker denied Baldwin’s attempt to get out of the lawsuit and also denied a motion by Baldwin and his El Dorado Pictures Inc. to withdraw the screenwriter’s claim for damages, refused.
Santa Fe District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies received the final report from the Santa Fe Sheriff’s Office rust Filming on 27 October. “The prosecutor and her team of investigators and prosecutors will now begin a thorough review of the information and evidence to make an informed and timely decision on whether or not to pursue charges,” her office said weeks later to more to find out. state for a possible prosecution in this case.
“As with all cases handled by the prosecutor, her focus will be to maintain the integrity of the process, uphold the laws of the state of New Mexico and ensure justice.”
Writer: Dominic Patten
Source: Deadline
