Halyna Hutchins’ Family Sues Alec Baldwin and ‘Rust” Movie for Wrongful Death

Following the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins last October on the movie set “Rust”, Alec Baldwin is among several defendants named in a wrongful death suit filed by her family.

Matthew Hutchins filed a lawsuit in Santa Fe, New Mexico, on behalf of himself and his son Andros Hutchins, alleging that the actor recklessly shot and killed his wife.

The lawsuit also claims that the “Rust” production failed to perform industry standard safety checks or follow basic gun safety rules, resulting in his 42-year old wife’s death.

The lawsuit also alleges that the “Rust” production failed to perform industry-standard safety checks or follow basic gun safety rules.

“Halyna Hutchins deserved to live, and the defendants had the power to prevent her death if they had only held sacrosanct their duty to protect the safety of every individual on a set where firearms were present instead of cutting corners on safety procedures where human lives were at stake, rushing to stay on schedule and ignoring numerous complaints of safety violations,” the lawsuit read.

The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages, including punitive damages. No criminal charges have been filed by the Santa Fe Sheriff’s Office, and the investigation is reported to be ongoing.

This lawsuit is only one of several that have been filed in the wake of the incident. Hutchins’ family is being represented by Panish Shea Boyle Ravipudi, with Brian Panish acting as lead attorney, as well as the law firm Montoya, Love and Curry with Randi McGinn acting as lead lawyer.

“Any claim that Alec was reckless is entirely false,” said Aaron Dyer, of Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman, an attorney for Alec Baldwin and other producers of “Rust,” in a statement.

“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,” he said.

“The ‘Rust’ Production involved extensive use of firearms and required an experienced firearms expert with the skill and qualifications to maintain constant vigilance for safety matters … Defendant Gutierrez-Reed was an inexperienced weapons master with only one movie production under her belt, unqualified for the degree of skill required on the ‘Rust’ set,” the lawsuit also alleges.

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