Alleging civil rights violations and malicious prosecution in the contentious Rust shooting case, Alec Baldwin has filed a lawsuit against New Mexico prosecutors, sheriff’s office employees, and others.
Following the spectacular rejection of Baldwin’s manslaughter charges during his July trial, the complaint was filed Thursday in a Santa Fe court. The case concerned the horrific shooting death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the Rust film set. Baldwin was holding a revolver during a camera setup when he fired a live round into Hutchins. It was disclosed in court that the sheriff’s office and prosecution had concealed important information regarding the provenance of the live round.
Baldwin’s attorneys, Luke Nikas and Heather LeBlanc, have filed a motion for a jury trial to seek damages for defamation, intentional destruction of evidence, and malicious abuse of process. The lawsuit names prosecutor Kari Morrissey, Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Corporal Alexandria Hancock, and others. Neither Morrissey nor the sheriff’s office has commented on the allegations.
The Rust shooting incident sent shockwaves through Hollywood, sparking widespread discussion about firearm safety on movie sets. The Ukrainian cinematographer Halyna Hutchins was shot dead while on rehearse with Baldwin when he half-cocked then presumably fired a 1873 Single Action Army revolver reproduction during one of the rehearsals of Rust. The live round fired from the gun had been left there by the film armorer Hannah Gutierrez. Gutierrez was later convicted of involuntary manslaughter in March and sentenced to 18 months in prison.
Baldwin’s case is one among several civil lawsuits filed in the wake of the incident, which has become a defining moment in the discussion of on-set safety protocols.
