The legal and moral ramifications following the disturbing shooting on set during Alec Baldwin's 'Rust' film, will continue to haunt all involved for years to come, writes Gerry Sont.
ON 21 OCTOBER 2021, at the Bonanza Creek Ranch in New Mexico, Alec Baldwin tragically shot and killed his colleague and cinematographer Halyna Hutchins while filming on set. The same bullet also wounded his director, Joel Souza.
Moments later, the grief-stricken Baldwin, bent over, sobbing at the side of a road, was photographed, filmed and uploaded to the internet for all to see. However, this would be just the beginning of his pain, as the legal ramifications would be gruelling.
Fatal shootings on film sets are not new, but nor are they common. There have been three deaths on film sets by gunfire. In 1984, Jon-Erik Hexum jokingly put a prop gun to his head while playing Russian roulette and pulled the trigger, not knowing that a blank can kill at short range. No criminal cases followed as prosecutors deemed it an accident. His mother filed a civil suit against Twentieth Century Fox Television, which was settled out of court.
In 1993, Brandon Lee was killed when a live round was unknowingly lodged in the barrel of the gun, and then a blank was fired, which propelled the live round. No criminal cases followed, as prosecutors saw it as an accidental chain of events with no criminal intent to harm. One civil case was brought by Lee’s fiancée and his family against the production company for wrongful death. It was settled out of court for an undisclosed amount.
Following the Rust shooting, four criminal cases were filed and nine civil claims were made, potentially with more to come.
Let’s start with the criminal cases. First up, David Halls (who was the director and safety coordinator) was charged with negligent use of a deadly weapon and sentenced to six months unsupervised probation, a fine equivalent of US$500 (AU$770) and 24 hours of community service. As the first assistant director, it was his job to verify with the armourer that the gun was safe before handing it to the actor.
Mr Halls admitted that he had not fully inspected the gun’s chambers before calling out several times, "cold gun" on set. It is an expression that would indicate to others that the weapon is safe with no live ammunition. Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, who was the on-set armourer and weapons handler, was charged with involuntary manslaughter, found guilty of manslaughter in March 2024 and sentenced to 18 months in prison. Ms Gutierez-Reid was the person who loaded the gun with live ammunition.
How the live ammunition arrived on set remains a mystery to this very day.
Alec Baldwin, who was an actor and producer in the film, was initially charged with involuntary manslaughter. These charges were dropped in April 2023 and then refiled in January 2024. The trial began in July 2024 but was dismissed due to prosecutors' withholding of evidence. So, Mr Baldwin was charged twice for the same incident and ultimately released.
After being exonerated from any wrongdoing, Mr Baldwin filed a civil suit for malicious prosecution, defamation, and civil rights violations against various prosecutors, investigators and the Sheriff’s department. This suit was dismissed "without prejudice" in July 2025. He may refile. The civil cases, however, were piling up against Baldwin. Baldwin was holding the gun at the time and was a producer of the film, so potential plaintiffs were shown legal openings to file numerous civil cases.
Crew member Serge Svetnoy, who was the on-set electrician, filed for negligence and emotional distress against Baldwin and Rust producers. He was off to the side at the time of the shooting and not in the line of fire. He claimed emotional distress at witnessing a co-worker being killed and another being wounded. This case remains active.
Mamie Mitchell, whose main role was script supervisor, filed suit against Baldwin and Rust producers for negligence and intentional infliction of emotional distress. Mitchell claimed fear for her life as she was standing next to Joel Souza (the film's director, who was injured) and was therefore in the "zone of danger". While crew members Ross Addiego, Doran Curtin and Reese Price all filed a negligence suit against Baldwin’s production company, citing serious emotional and physical trauma. Mr Addiego was behind the camera and a few feet away from the direct line of fire.
Curtin was near the prop and wardrobe stations but close enough to see and hear the shot. Price was in the general area but slightly to the side of the camera crew. This case settled for an undisclosed amount. In 2022, Cheryln Schaefer, the film's medic, filed a negligence suit against Rust Movie Productions, David Hall, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, Sarah Zachry, Seth Kenny (the ammunition supplier) and Bonanza Creek Film locations.
Cherlyn Schaefer claimed emotional distress, loss of enjoyment of life and lost earnings, and was awarded a part settlement of nearly US$1.15 million (AU$1.77 million) against gun supervisor Sarah Zachry, with the case still running against all other defendants. Hannah Gutierrez-Reed sued PDQ Arm & Prop, the ammunition supplier, for allegedly bringing live rounds onto the set. Gutierrez-Reed lost this case as the jury held her responsible for failing to properly check the ammunition before she loaded it into the gun.
The Hutchins’ family filed a wrongful death suit in Feb 2022 against Baldwin, Halls, Gutierrez-Reed, the prop master and producers, which settled in October of 2022.
Halyna Hutchins' husband, Mathew, filed a wrongful death suit against Baldwin and Rust producers, which settled with Mathew Hutchins becoming an executive producer on the film.
Halyna Hutchins' parents and sister filed wrongful death suits against Baldwin and Rust producers alleging negligence, battery, emotional distress and loss of consortium. This lawsuit is still active.
You may be wondering about Joel Souza, the director of the film, who was shot and wounded by the same bullet that killed Halyna Hutchins. Surely, being physically injured in the incident, he would be in a prime position to get in on some of the spoils? Well, no.
Joel Souza did not sue either Baldwin or the film’s producers. Mr Souza told Vanity Fair that "the incident ruined him, not that it put his career in ruins, but internally, the person I was, just went away".
He summarised:
"The verdicts made me feel awful in general. Everything that bubbles up from this movie is devastating. Nothing that happened in any of this was fair. No one deserved this, any of it, but it happened. I don’t think anyone would ever allege that anything was intentional."
It is clear, however, that Mr Souza’s sentiment is in the minority. The U.S., infamous for its litigious obsession, has certainly enjoyed a legal festive season. The fees for the criminal cases alone have been reported to be in excess of $4 million. The nine civil cases have so far generated fees of around $6 million.
Those figures alone are the same as the entire filming budget for the movie.
Alec Baldwin not only suffered the psychological and emotional distress of killing a fellow human being (someone he admired and respected) but has also been subjected to legal scrutiny for four years. His reputation has been shattered. He has been lambasted by the press and besieged by public judgement. Mr Baldwin is said to be personally out of pocket above US$2.5 million (AU$3.8 million) in legal fees.
From the days of Brandon Lee's death back in 1993, when a tragic accident was seen for what it was, laws have certainly created a minefield. The grounds have broadened for what constitutes a "valid claim".
The law has expanded its theory on liabilities and made filing fees relatively cheap. When coupled with the plethora of lawyers ready to work on contingency fees, you have a good old-fashioned shootout. Except, this time, it’s in the courthouse.
Gerry Sont has been an actor, TV presenter and teacher for the past 35 years.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Australia License
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