Alec Baldwin Fails To Get ‘Rust’ Crew Member Lawsuit Dismissed
By Kristin Myers on August 23, 2023 at 1:05 PM EDT
Actor Alec Baldwin was unable to get a lawsuit filed by three "Rust" crew members dismissed.
Earlier this year, three crew members from the set of the Western film – Ross Addiego, Doran Curtin, and Reese Price – filed a new lawsuit against the “30 Rock” actor and “Rust” producers alleging “negligence and reckless conduct.”
On October 21, 2021, Alec Baldwin fired a prop .45 Colt revolver that contained live ammunition, striking and killing cinematographer Halnya Hutchins. The 65-year-old actor faced two counts of involuntary manslaughter, although the charges were dropped in April 2023 pending further investigation.
Although it is possible that he will face new charges as forensic testing continues, Baldwin has not been let off the hook for a lawsuit filed by three "Rust" crew members who were inside the church when the gun went off.
Alec Baldwin Is Still Named In Lawsuit Filed By Three ‘Rust’ Crew Members Alleging ‘Reckless Conduct’
On Wednesday, New Mexico’s First Judicial District Court Judge Bryan Biedscheid denied a motion placed by Alec Baldwin and co-defendants El Dorado Pictures and Rust Movie Productions to dismiss the lawsuit filed by three “Rust” crew members, as per Deadline. They also denied a motion to stay the trial until the criminal trial concludes.
Judge Biedscheid said that he “doesn’t know” the state of the “criminal prosecution with Mr. Baldwin” but noted that it was “surprisingly common” for a defendant to be facing both a criminal and civil case at the same time. He did allow the defendants to “assert their constitutional rights as they see fit” after he denied the stay.
'Rust' Crew Members Request Unspecified Damages
The three former “Rust” crew members – Ross Addiego, Doran Curtin, and Reese Price – are suing for unspecified damages claiming that they are the victims of "negligent and reckless conduct" from Alec Baldwin, El Dorado Pictures, and Rust Movie Productions.
The court documents state that the trio “are entitled to damages for their injuries caused by Defendants’ negligent and reckless conduct.” The former employees are all seeking “compensatory and punitive damages, jointly and severally,” for loss of “enjoyment of life” and loss of “value of lost earnings and present cash value of earning capacity.”
In the lawsuit, all three “Rust” crew members recalled what they experienced on the set of the Western film the day that Halyna Hutchins was shot and killed. All three claim that the “sound from the live discharge inside the small church was deafening, causing Plaintiffs to suffer blast injuries,” according to the court documents.
Price claims that he saw the “muzzle flash of the revolver” and then felt the “physical force of the gunfire in the small space.” Price went on to say that he felt his ears ringing as he looked toward director Joel Souza who was “screaming and crawling away” from Baldwin.
Addiego says that he witnessed the same flash and “felt the same disorienting sound, force, and physical trauma from the gunshot.” He stated that both Hutchins and Souza fell to the ground after he heard the gunshot. In the court documents, he focused more on Souza’s injuries than Hutchins’. As the court documents state:
“As he examined Souza for injuries, Plaintiff Addiego saw a hole in the front of Souza’s sweatshirt. Assisted by another crew member and the set medic, Plaintiff Addiego removed Souza’s shirt and rolled him over. Souza’s scapula was shattered, and a bullet was lodged just beneath his skin. Plaintiff Addiego applied pressure to Souza’s wound until emergency medical professionals arrived.”
Curtin was closer to Hutchins at the time of the incident. Curtin said that she felt the “same sound, force, and physical trauma from the gunshot. “With Hutchins at her feet, other crew members instructed Plaintiff Curtin to remove Hutchins’ headset. She bent down and removed the equipment from Hutchins’ head,” the lawsuit states. “She watched in shock as Hutchins grabbed at her abdomen.”
Curtin claims that, once she was ushed outside of the church, she collapsed from “the effects of the blast and the shock of the shooting.”
Baldwin has frequently insisted that he did not pull the trigger on the prop Colt .45 revolver. In December 2021, the "Supercell" actor sat down with George Stephanopoulos on ABC News to maintain his innocence. “The trigger wasn’t pulled,” he said at the time. “I didn’t pull the trigger. I would never point a gun at someone and pull the trigger on them, never.”
However, a new forensic test found that the trigger was pulled “sufficiently” in order to cause the gun to fire, supporting the results of an FBI forensic report released last year.
