The husband of Halyna Hutchins, Matthew Hutchins, says that he has been victimized by the recent release of videos from the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office.
In an email obtained by TMZ, his lawyer, Brian Panish, criticized Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza for relating sensitive and graphic videos related to his wife’s death.
Halyna Hutchins’ Husband Says Mendoza Walked Back Previous Agreement
Panish, Hutchins’ lawyer, claims that he promised to let Matthew Hutchins reviews all of the materials, including photographs, audio, video clips, and other documents, before its release. However, the information was released suddenly on Monday. Panish claims that Mendoza never gave Matthew a chance to look at it first.
In the email obtained by the outlet, Panish wrote, “Your office trampled on the constitutional rights of Hutchins.” He claims that Mendoza broke the constitutional right for victims in New Mexico to be treated with both fairness and dignity.
Panish went on to say that the release of the video will cause irreparable harm to both him and their nine-year-old son, Andros. One of the released videos contains footage of Halyna on the floor, bleeding, as medics frantically tended to her. In another video, a sheriff can be heard telling Alec Baldwin and other crew members that the bullet had entered the right side of her body under her arm and exited through her back left shoulder blade.
Hutchins’ lawyer added that Mendoza had full decision-making authority about what he chose to release, and he chose to release the graphic video without concern for her late family and what consequences they might suffer upon viewing the footage. Panish criticized Mendoza, writing, “We fear, for example, that this shocking footage of Andros’ mother dying may be material used by bullies to emotionally abuse him in the future.”
He ended his email, writing, “We demand that your office respect Matthew, Halyna, and Andros Hutchins’ constitutional rights of dignity, privacy, respect, and fairness going forward. We also demand that your office take down the video footage of Halyna Hutchins dying on the church floor.” He added, “While the damage of publishing that video is irreparable, taking down the video will end your office’s complicity in causing future harm.”
Halyna Hutchins’ Husband Recalls Learning About His Wife’s Death
EXCLUSIVE: “My heart sank right away.” -Matt Hutchins, husband of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, on the moment when he had to tell their 9-year-old son that his mother had been killed on the set of the movie “Rust.” https://t.co/tL2uv2M6Ca pic.twitter.com/2AooJw4thT
— TODAY (@TODAYshow) February 24, 2022
In mid-February, after the Hutchins family filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Baldwin and other “Rust” producers, he gave an interview on the TODAY show with Hoda Kotb to discuss his wife’s sudden passing.
He told Kotb that “a member of the production team told me that Halyna had been shot.”
“My heart sank right away,” he recalled. He said it was “completely inexplicable to me that it could have happened at that moment.”However, he knew that he had to tell his son that his mother had passed away. He decided that he was going to be “very direct and blunt” with the 9-year-old child.
“Well, you know, I think that that kind of news you just have to say multiple times, so that it can be believed,” he said. “And so he believed it, and we cried together then.”
Halyna passed away in October, which meant that the husband and son had to learn how to spend Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s Eve, Valentine’s Day, and other holidays and milestones without her there. “And every holiday, Christmas, New Year’s, our anniversary, my birthday, Valentine’s Day… I mean, every holiday is difficult without her,” he said.
Alec Baldwin Said Everyone Liked Halyna Hutchins On Set
During an ABC News interview with George Stephanopoulos in early December, Baldwin had said that everyone on set liked and admired Halyna. “She was someone who was loved by everyone who worked with [her], and liked by everyone who worked with [her], and admired,” Baldwin said. “I mean, even now… I find it hard to believe that [it happened]. It just doesn’t seem real to me.”
Matthew revealed that the inscription of her tombstone reads: “Her light shapes our lives, keep chasing your vision.”
“So her life shapes our lives, keep chasing your vision,” Matthew explained. “You know, thinking about how her life just permeates our lives and to be inspired and ambitious. And that really embodied her spirit.”
