"Rust" actor and co-producer Alec Baldwin along with the other film producers are facing a new lawsuit over the accidental on-set death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins last month. The lawsuit, which was filed Wednesday by the film script supervisor Mami Mitchel, claims that Baldwin’s script did not require him to discharge a gun.
According to the BBC, Mitchell said the script had called for three tight camera shots- which included one of Baldwin’s eyes, a shot of a bloodstain on his shoulder and the third which was of his torso as he reaches down to the holster and removes the gun.
In Mitchel’s lawsuit, she has claimed assault, deliberate infliction of harm, as well as intentional infliction of emotional distress. This would be the second lawsuit filed over the incident whereby the set’s head electrician had already sought legal action earlier this month. Mitchel,who seeks unspecified damages, was the one who called the police after the shooting which also resulted in a gunshot wound on film director Joel Souza.
During a news conference, Mitchel’s lawyer Gloria Allred described Baldwin’s behavior as “reckless” and accused him of failing to follow safety protocols. Baldwin "chose to play Russian roulette when he fired a gun without checking it and without having the armorer do so in his presence,” Allred said.
A range of safety failures, she added, could mean "a case where injury or death was much more than just a possibility — it was a likely result".
Mitchel was said to have been standing less than 4 feet away from Baldwin when the prop gun was fired. Other defendants named in the lawsuit include, the movie armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed and assistant director David Halls.
While authorities are still investigating the incident, no criminal charges have yet been filed against anyone involved in the movie production. Santa Fe county district attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies has rejected circulating theories from the attorneys of crew members who suggested that someone may have had intentions to sabotage the film set.
The armorer’s attorney Jason Bowles said: “ I believe that somebody who would do that would want to sabotage the set, want to prove a point, want to say they’re disgruntled, they’re unhappy.”
Altwies said there was quite an excessive amount of ammunition and cited that more than one live round had been found on the film set.
Gutierrez- Reed on the other hand said she had no idea how a live round had ended up in the gun’s barrel as Baldwin had been handed the prop gun by Halls. Court records show that Halls did not know the firearm contained live ammunition and declared it a “cold gun” prior to handing it over to Baldwin.
Baldwin and the film's producers have not yet commented on the new lawsuit.
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