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Actor Alec Baldwin, beleaguered with controversy following the shooting death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins has launched a lawsuit against the crew members from the production of ‘Rust’ who handled and supplied the firearm he discharged at Hutchins. Through the lawsuit, “Baldwin seeks to clear his name.”
The lawsuit, a cross-claim to another lawsuit in progress from script supervisor Mamie Mitchell that names Baldwin as a defendant alongside the production company, and many others alleging assault and negligence according to Breitbart, makes a very specific claim.
“More than anyone else on that set, Baldwin has been wrongfully viewed as the perpetrator of this tragedy. By these cross-claims, Baldwin seeks to clear his name,” his lawsuit read.
The outlet reported that in this complaint, Baldwin claims that while he was working with Hutchins on camera angles during scene rehearsal he pointed the gun in her direction. He allegedly pulled back and released the hammer of the gun and it discharged.
Hutchins and director Joel Souza were struck. Hutchins did not survive, Souza was wounded in the shoulder. Baldwin reportedly said that he did not know the weapon contained live ammunition.
“This tragedy occurred on a movie set — not a gun range, not a battlefield, not a location where even a remote possibility should exist that a gun would contain live ammunition,” Baldwin claimed in the lawsuit.
The lawsuit from the actor names four crewmembers in particular according to The New York Times:
- Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, the film’s armorer, is charged with handling guns and ammunition on set.
- Dave Halls, the first assistant director, was the person who physically handed the gun to Baldwin allegedly stating it was safe.
- Sarah Zachry, the crew member in charge of props
- Seth Kenney has been described as the primary supplier of guns and ammunition to the film set.
The lawsuit specifically alleges that the tragic shooting only occurred, “because live bullets were delivered to the set and loaded into the gun.” Baldwin further makes the accusation that Gutierrez-Reed failed to check the bullets or the gun with care, Halls failed to check it again before allegedly declaring it ‘safe’ and handing it over to Baldwin and Zachry failed to ensure the safety of the weapons and ammunition on set.
While the legal team that prepared the lawsuit for Baldwin took time and care to state, “There can be no doubt that others have suffered from Cross-Defendants’ negligence far more than Baldwin has,” citing that “Hutchins lost her life, and her young child lost his mother,” and “Producer Joel Souza was shot in the shoulder and has suffered physical and emotional pain,” notably absent from any of the descriptions is whether or not Baldwin pulled the trigger.
This has long been a sticking point in the case.
Baldwin has told many outlets that he was “fanning” the hammer of the pistol. However, this was contradicted by an FBI report published by ABC News which revealed with the hammer of the gun in either the quarter- or half-cock positions, the gun “could not be made to fire without a pull of the trigger.”
Furthermore, the report added that even with the hammer fully locked back, the gun “could not be made to fire without a pull of the trigger while the working internal components were intact and functional.”
Actor Alec Baldwin, beleaguered with controversy following the shooting death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins has launched a lawsuit against the crew members from the production of ‘Rust’ who handled and supplied the firearm he discharged at Hutchins. Through the lawsuit, “Baldwin seeks to clear his name.”
The lawsuit, a cross-claim to another lawsuit in progress from script supervisor Mamie Mitchell that names Baldwin as a defendant alongside the production company, and many others alleging assault and negligence according to Breitbart, makes a very specific claim.
The outlet reported that in this complaint, Baldwin claims that while he was working with Hutchins on camera angles during scene rehearsal he pointed the gun in her direction. He allegedly pulled back and released the hammer of the gun and it discharged.
Hutchins and director Joel Souza were struck. Hutchins did not survive, Souza was wounded in the shoulder. Baldwin reportedly said that he did not know the weapon contained live ammunition.
The lawsuit from the actor names four crewmembers in particular according to The New York Times:
The lawsuit specifically alleges that the tragic shooting only occurred, “because live bullets were delivered to the set and loaded into the gun.” Baldwin further makes the accusation that Gutierrez-Reed failed to check the bullets or the gun with care, Halls failed to check it again before allegedly declaring it ‘safe’ and handing it over to Baldwin and Zachry failed to ensure the safety of the weapons and ammunition on set.
While the legal team that prepared the lawsuit for Baldwin took time and care to state, “There can be no doubt that others have suffered from Cross-Defendants’ negligence far more than Baldwin has,” citing that “Hutchins lost her life, and her young child lost his mother,” and “Producer Joel Souza was shot in the shoulder and has suffered physical and emotional pain,” notably absent from any of the descriptions is whether or not Baldwin pulled the trigger.
This has long been a sticking point in the case.
Baldwin has told many outlets that he was “fanning” the hammer of the pistol. However, this was contradicted by an FBI report published by ABC News which revealed with the hammer of the gun in either the quarter- or half-cock positions, the gun “could not be made to fire without a pull of the trigger.”
Furthermore, the report added that even with the hammer fully locked back, the gun “could not be made to fire without a pull of the trigger while the working internal components were intact and functional.”