LOS ANGELES (CNS) – A firearms expert hired by a lighting technician on the film “Rust” who says he suffered emotional distress from the fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins by Alec Baldwin in 2021 opines in new court papers that the actor’s handling of the weapon was “substandard” and that his explanations “make little sense.”
In court papers filed Friday with Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Maurice A. Leiter in advance of an April 17 hearing on the dismissal motion by Baldwin and El Dorado Pictures Inc., gun authority David Brown says Baldwin’s deposition explanation about cocking back the gun’s hammer “because that’s what the character would do” was illuminating.
“With all respect to defendant Baldwin and his extensive experience as both an actor and a producer/director, his interpretation as to what his character would have done in a scene such as described in his deposition and why he manipulated the hammer in this way makes little sense logically,” Brown says. “Holding the hammer back with one’s thumb, as related by defendant Baldwin, is both dangerous and completely wrong.”
Regardless of whether a firearm is loaded or empty, and whether the hammer is fully cocked or held back, there is no circumstance in which it is necessary to place a finger on the trigger absent an intent to fire, according to Brown. Basic firearms safety rules require that the muzzle be kept pointed in a safe direction and that one’s finger be kept outside the trigger guard unless and until discharge is intended, Brown adds.
The first assistant director handed Baldwin the firearm, which departed from “settled safety practice” in which an armorer presents the weapon, according to Brown.
“No one demonstrated the weapon’s condition to Baldwin,” Brown says. “And yet he accepted it. That conduct fell below accepted industry standards.”
In sum, Baldwin “acted in a substandard way” when he allowed the firearm to be pointed toward people on the set, including Svetnoy, Hutchins and director Joel Souza, according to Brown, who has worked as a professional firearms instructor for more than 35 years and has coordinated firearms safety for film, stage and opera productions for more than three decades.
But Baldwin’s lawyers argue there are no triable issues in Serge Svetnoy’s case against the 67-year-old actor. The upcoming motion asks that the judge alternatively toss some of the causes of action if he decides others can proceed to trial.
“In October 2022, Mr. (Matthew) Hutchins and Alec Baldwin, both intending to honor (Halyna’s) legacy and do what is best for Halyna’s son, reached a settlement,” the actor’s attorneys state in their court papers. “That should have been the end of the matter. But it was not.”
Svetnoy alleges he was injured based solely on his being close by when a prop gun went off and the live round, which should not have been in the gun and for which those responsible for it had just told Mr. Baldwin that it was unloaded, traveled in front of the gaffer, Baldwin’s lawyers further state in their pleadings.
Svetnoy was not injured and although he understandably says he suffered mental anguish, “the same can be said for many people who were on the set that day,” according to Baldwin’s attorneys’ court papers.
Nonetheless, Svetnoy cannot recover damages because his claims belong in the workers’ compensation arena whether New Mexico or California law is applied, the Baldwin lawyers further state.
In addition, Baldwin was not negligent because he was not responsible for safety, particularly as to prop guns, on the “Rust” set, according to the actor’s lawyers’ court papers, which further state that there also is no evidence of intentional acts to support Svetnoy’s claims for assault or emotional distress.
Lastly, there are no facts showing Baldwin acted with malice to back the technician’s request for punitive damages, according to Baldwin’s lawyers’ pleadings.
Svetnoy claimed in his original suit filed in November 2021 that the shooting on the film’s set “was caused by the negligent acts and omissions” of the multiple defendants in his suit. In a subsequent amended complaint, Svetnoy added causes of action for assault and intentional infliction of emotional distress against Baldwin only.
Svetnoy was among the first “Rust” crew members to publicly speak out about the shooting that killed the 42-year-old Hutchins while Baldwin was helping to prepare camera angles on the film’s set near Santa Fe. The weapon, which was supposed to contain only blank rounds, discharged a lead bullet that struck Hutchins in the chest then lodged in the shoulder of Souza, now 51.
In July 2024, a New Mexico judge dismissed the criminal case against Baldwin in mid-trial on grounds that the prosecution had suppressed evidence.
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