Rust film’s producers including actor Alec Baldwin who has been under investigation after his prop gun misfire killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the film sets, have filed for the dismissal of a second lawsuit.
Maime Mitchell, who had worked as the script supervisor on the now suspended film, sued Baldwin and other producers, in November 2021, alleging that unlawful conduct on the sets resulted in the death of Hutchins.
She sought damages for physical and emotional injuries caused by the tragic incident. Mitchell was not only present on the sets when the incident transpired, but also claimed to have been the one to call 911 for help.
The defendants, however, argued that the grounds provided by Mitchell fail to state facts sufficient to constitute a cause of action.
“Nothing about Plaintiff’s allegations suggest that any of defendants, including Mr. Baldwin, intended the prop gun to be loaded with live ammunition. Moreover, nothing about plaintiff’s allegations suggests any of the defendants knew the prop gun contained live ammunition,” read the defendants’ statement as acquired by Deadline.
“The absence of such allegations of course makes sense because the incident is apparently unprecedented in the filmmaking industry,” it added, and called Mitchell’s grounds “illogical” since everyone including herself and Baldwin expected the firearm to be a “cold gun” – production jargon for a weapon with no live rounds.
They further challenged Mitchell’s claims to monetary recovery on the grounds that she did not incur any injury.
The producers and executive producers named in the suit include Ryan Donnell Smith, Allen Cheney, Nathan Klingher, Ryan Winterstern, Matt DelPiano, Anjul Nigam, Emily Salveson, Jennifer Lamb and Chris MB Sharp.
The prop gun misfire occurred in October when Baldwin was rehearsing with the firearm on the film’s set. Apart from killing Hutchins, the incident also left director Joel Souza injured.
Since then, Baldwin, assistant director Dave Halls, and armorer Hannah Gutierrez Reed have been under investigation. Halls was the one who had declared the prop a “cold gun”. Both Halls and Reed later admitted that neither had checked the gun before handing it over to the next concerned person.
In her suit, Mitchell alleged that there was no need for Baldwin to discharge the firearm on set that day. She further claimed that no protocols were followed.
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“Had the script called for a firearm to be discharged, Plaintiff [Mitchell], along with a number of other crew members, would have been required to view the discharging of the gun via exterior monitors that would have been set up outside of the church. None of these protocols and precautions had been taken since the script did not indicate that a firearm was to be discharged by defendant Baldwin or anyone else,” her suit read.
According to industry norms, the armorer is supposed to hand the gun to the actor and demonstrate to them that the gun chambers are empty. Mitchell noted that with his experience, Baldwin should have assumed that the gun in question was loaded until it was demonstrated otherwise.
Mitchells’ lawsuit makes for the second lawsuit, the first filed by Serge Svetnoy, who worked as a gaffer (chief electrician) on the sets.
With the investigation still going on, Baldwin turned in his cell phone earlier this month following reports of non-compliance.