Alec Baldwin was again the talk of the Internet on Friday about the shooting incident that took place last year on the set of the film Rust.
In the course of rehearsals, Baldwin shot cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, killing her and injuring the director. Although Baldwin has reached an agreement with Hutchins family members, he's still waiting to find out whether he or the other actors who were involved in the gun on scene will be prosecuted for the shooting.
However, on Thursday, Baldwin filed a suit against all the others who might have been involved in handling or having a connection to the gun, including the armorer as well as the prop master and the director's assistant who gave Baldwin the weapon.
The lawsuit filed against another crew of Baldwin will be a cross-complaint filed in the ongoing trial where screenwriter Mamie Mitchell filed suit against Baldwin to be held accountable for his negligence, and for intentional infliction of emotional distress through the filming. Therefore, he's filing it in order to shift blame to those whom he's suing.
Baldwin's lawyer, Luke Nikas, tried to blame the crew members, not Baldwin, as well as the costumer Hannah Gutierrez Reed and prop master Sarah Zachry, saying that they failed to ensure security on set. The suit claims that this happened as a result of “live bullets delivered to the set and loaded into the gun.”
From the Los Angeles Times:
In Baldwin's Friday complaint, he alleges that the armorer Hannah Gutierrez Reed had been drinking and taking marijuana away from the scene as well as text messages sent between her and Zachry. “Zachry did not air these concerns until after the fatal shooting,” Baldwin's lawyer stated in her complaint.
Baldwin stated that Zachry acknowledged that the armorer was “misplacing things and mixing them up” but she did not communicate her concerns to the company. In addition, he mentioned text messages sent to Zachry that claimed Gutierrez Reed took the prop guns to a shooting facility where “she loaded them with live ammunition and did target practice,” according to the complaint.
Baldwin further alleged that the film's weapons manufacturer Seth Kenney and his company PDQ made ammunition with no adequate labels or segregation or organization, as per the complaint. “Their cavalier disregard for proper separation between live and dummy ammunition was one of the factors that led to the presence of live ammunition on the set of Rust,” Nikas claimed in the report. Nikas also cited an FBI analysis that concluded that the gun that was used by Baldwin for filming was not in good condition.
The actor claimed Halls had the right to have daily safety meetings where weapons were utilized on set, but didn't refer to interviews conducted by the Bureau of New Mexico's Occupational Health and Safety Bureau.
This leaves the possibility that Baldwin fired the weapon, but he does not take any responsibility he could have had to inspect and use the gun in a safe manner. Baldwin claimed that he never pulled the trigger on the gun, however, an FBI review of the forensic evidence found that the gun couldn't be shot without the trigger being pulled.
Another saga could be coming for Baldwin in the near future. Criminal charges are currently being thought of by District Attorney MaryCarmack-Altwies. In the News Nation report, the DA wanted more than $600,000.00 to prosecute the case. In addition, she considered the possibility of bringing charges against as many as four individuals, including Baldwin.
If the DA is asking for cash, it's a good sign they're serious about filing charges. That could be something Baldwin isn't able to deflect, using counter suits or even sympathy TV ads.
