Halyna Hutchins’ Widower Vows To Take Alec Baldwin Back To Court Over Fatal Shooting Of ‘Rust’ Cinematographer
EXCLUSIVE: Alec Baldwin has today just seen the sudden dismissal of the involuntary manslaughter case against him for the fatal 2021 shooting of Rust cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, but the Emmy winning actor could be back in court much sooner than he expected.
Almost two years after Baldwin and Rust producers reached a settlement with the Hutchins estate and her grieving husband to end a wrongful death suit, the lawyer for Matthew Hutchins today made it very clear that circumstances have changed.
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“We respect the court’s decision,” Brian J. Parish told Deadline of the criminal case tossed out today. “We look forward to presenting all the evidence to a jury and holding Mr. Baldwin accountable for his actions in the senseless death of Halyna Hutchins,” the Panish | Shea | Ravipudi LLP attorney added of the civil matter he is working on, again.
Whether that court appearance will be a continuation of the initial wrongful death action filed in February 2022 or a breach of agreement suit is unclear right now, I hear.
Hutchins was killed and Rust director Joel Souza was injured on October 21, 2021 after the Colt .45 Baldwin was pointing at the cinematographer shot off a live round during a rehearsal at the Bonanza Creek Ranch near Santa Fe. Re-charged with involuntary manslaughter in January, exactly a year after he was charged the first time and after a plea deal fell apart, Baldwin entered a not guilty plea in the weeks afterward.
Looking at up to 18 months in state prison if found guilty, Baldwin has always insisted that while he cocked the hammer, he did not pull the trigger and the gun somehow went off on its own. The FBI and others disagreed, but that may be moot now. Three days into his criminal trial, Baldwin saw all the charges dismissed with predjudice by Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer over critical evidence that had been supposedly concealed.
Still, with the agreed upon funds due to the Hutchins estate having not been paid by the Rust team as scheduled, and now months and months behind, this could get very messy for Baldwin again, sources tell me. As it is, the early 2022 filed wrongful death suit is actually still open in the New Mexico courts as various defendants and insurance companies continue to bicker in the docket.
Two and a half years ago, as Santa Fe law enforcement were in the early stages of what ended up being a pretty bungled investigation, Parish’s suit for Matthew Hutchins and the couple’s young son was very strictly focused on the corners seeming cut and the risks taken on the $7 million indie Western.
“Defendant Baldwin, the Producers, and the Rust Production Companies were aware of firearms safety issues that had occurred on the set of Rust and did not take action to correct the situation and ensure that basic gun safety rules were followed on October 21, 2021,” the filing in New Mexico state court said. “Had Defendant Baldwin, the Producers, and the Rust Production Companies taken adequate precautions to ensure firearm safety on the set of Rust or if basic firearm safety rules had been followed on the set of Rust on October 21, 2021, Halyna Hutchins would be alive and well, hugging her husband and nine-year old son.”
At the time, Albuquerque-based attorney and co-counsel Randi McGinn estimate a trial for unnamed compensation wouldn’t occur for another “year and a half.” Actually it all seemed to be solved within a few months as the parties announced a settlement in early October 2022.
That deal would see money paid to the estate, a documentary on Hutchins and the starting up again of Rust, with Matthew Hutchins’ blessing. Under the settlement, the Hutchins’ now 11-year-old son would see a portion of the payouts made available to him in installments between his 18th and 22nd birthday, court documents detailed.
“I have no interest in engaging in recriminations or attribution of blame (to the producers or Mr. Baldwin,” Hutchins said in a statement at the time. “All of us believe Halyna’s death was a terrible accident. I am grateful that the producers and the entertainment community have come together to pay tribute to Halyna’s final work.”
The idea was the wrongful death suit from Hutchins would be dismissed once the settlement was approved by a Land of Enchantment judge — which it was formally done on June 1 last year.
However, the Hutchins never received the money they were supposed to in a timely fashion soon afterwards. That seems to be part due to disputes Rust Movie Productions has with insurance company Chubb. The lack of payments for the past year to the Hutchins estate also is connected to the nearly $1.6 million in New Mexico tax incentives that Rust was awarded.
Unsurprisingly, with all the bad press and unwelcomed spotlight the Rust shooting put New Mexico and its burgeoning film industry under, — the state recently pulled the plug on the tax credits.
Those tax credits were supposed to be some of the funds for the Hutchins settlement. “The denial of the tax credit has disrupted those financial arrangements,” Rust producers attorney Melina Spadone told he AP earlier this month.
Resurrected in early 2023 and finished by filming in Montana, the now completed Rust, with Matthew Hutchins as an executive producer, has still yet to find a buyer.
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