Alec Baldwin to Be Deposed in Lawsuit From Halyna Hutchins’ Family Over ‘Rust’ Shooting
Alec Baldwin will be deposed in May over his role in the October 2021 fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of Rust.
Lawyers for Hutchins’ parents and sister, in a notice filed on Monday in New Mexico state court, told the judge overseeing the case that they intend to take Baldwin’s deposition on May 9 at their firm’s New York office.
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“It is long overdue for him to testify under oath about what really happened that caused the death” of Hutchins, said Gloria Allred, a lawyer for the family, in a statement.
The deposition relates to a lawsuit filed by Olga Solovey, Anatolii Androsovych and Svetlana Zemko — Hutchins’ mother, father and sister respectively — against Baldwin, Rust Movie Productions and producers of the film faulting them for the accidental shooting. It revolves around accusations that they repeatedly ignored safety protocols designed to ensure that firearms would be safely used on the set of the low budget Western. Per the complaint, Baldwin, who allegedly failed to check the firearm to see if it was loaded in violation of industry-wide safety protocols, cocked and fired the gun even though the scene he was filming did not call for him to do so.
The lawsuit alleged battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress, negligence and loss of consortium, which allows for recovery of damages for relationships that are mutually dependent. Rust producers Ryan Smith, Allen Cheney, Anjul Nigam, Ryan Winterstein and Matthew Delpiano, among others, were also named in the complaint, which was initially filed in Los Angeles Superior Court but later transferred to New Mexico state court.
The case was paused pending the outcome of Baldwin’s trial for manslaughter. The stay was lifted after the court dismissed charges against the actor following a last-minute hearing over how police and prosecutors treated a handful of bullets. It related to a retired law enforcement officer turning over a collection of live ammunition to the Santa Fe Sheriff’s Office, some of which matched the bullets found on the Rust set. While the rounds were taken in, they weren’t inventoried under the proper case, effectively hiding the evidence from Baldwin.
In a statement, Allred also took issue with Baldwin’s TLC reality series, which features him and his family, for “ignoring the fact that [he] took a child away from her parents.”
“No longer under the threat of criminal prosecution, it is long overdue for Alec Baldwin to admit and face the real-life consequences that he caused Halyna’s parents and sister,” she said.
Allred also represents script supervisor Mamie Mitchell in a lawsuit against Baldwin and the film’s producers. Earlier in the case, a judge found that there was “extreme and outrageous conduct on the part of Baldwin,” who “unexpectedly cocked and fired a loaded handgun” despite being aware of a disastrous safety culture on the set of Rust.
In January, Baldwin sued Santa Fe officials for malicious prosecution and civil rights violations for pursuing criminal charges against him in the accidental shooting death. He said that prosecutors intentionally concealed evidence that would vindicate and sought to charge him for political gain.
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