A script supervisor who was standing next to cinematographer Halyna Hutchins when she was fatally shot with a prop weapon fired by actor Alec Baldwin on the set of the film “Rust” in 2021 can move forward with her negligence claim against two of the producers, a judge ruled Wednesday.
Hutchins, 42, was killed Oct. 21, 2021, while Baldwin, a producer and star of “Rust,” was helping to prepare camera angles for a scene on the film’s set near Santa Fe, New Mexico. Baldwin fired a weapon which was supposed to contain only blank rounds but discharged a lead bullet that struck Hutchins in the chest then lodged in the shoulder of director Joel Souza, now 49.
Plaintiff Mamie Mitchell’s suit, originally filed last Nov. 17, names multiple defendants, including Baldwin. She alleges she suffered physical and emotional damages.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Michael E. Whitaker’s ruling on Wednesday focused on Mitchell’s negligence allegation against Anjul Nigam and Brittany House Pictures, two producers of “Rust.” Defense attorneys maintained Mitchell suffered no physical injuries and that the negligence cause of action should be dismissed, but the judge disagreed.
“Certainly, (Mitchell) could have suffered great physical injuries if her body made contact with the live ammunition or shrapnel,” the judge wrote. “But (the defendants) overlook other possible physical injuries, which (Mitchell) does sufficiently allege under a liberal construction of the pleadings of injuries to her ears and head from the loud sound.
Mitchell’s lawyers maintained in their court papers that the first 11 days of the film’s production were “filled with a variety of safety issues that placed (Nigam and Brittany House) — as producers in control of the production — on notice that there were serious safety-related problems on the set that were endangering the cast and crew related to the use of firearms.”
The judge noted that Mitchell’s attorneys had agreed to withdraw their claims for assault, battery and intentional infliction of emotional distress against the same producers.
The two producers’ attorneys maintained in their court papers that Nigam was involved in the financing of the film during pre-production and that his job was finished before the shooting of “Rust” started.