A judge Wednesday granted a “Rust” film lighting technician’s request for a six-month delay in the start of his civil case trial against Alec Baldwin and the actor’s company, El Dorado Pictures, so that Baldwin and others can be deposed.
Plaintiff Serge Svetnoy alleges in his Los Angeles Superior Court complaint that he suffered emotional distress stemming from the accidental fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins with a bullet fired by Baldwin from a prop weapon in New Mexico in 2021.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Teresa A. Beaudet, standing in for Judge Maurice A. Leiter, rescheduled the beginning of trial from Aug. 4 to Feb. 9, 2026. Beaudet also reset a hearing on Baldwin’s pretrial dismissal motion from July 8 to Nov. 18. Baldwin’s lawyers argue there are no triable issues in Svetnoy’s case against the 67-year-old actor. The motion asks that the judge alternatively toss at least some of the causes of action.
In their court papers seeking the trial delay, Svetnoy’s lawyers said that prior to filing oppositions to Baldwin’s dismissal motion as well as those brought by “Rust” armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed and first assistant director David Halls, they want to depose all three. Gutierrez-Reed was convicted of involuntary manslaughter in March 2024, sentenced the next month to 18 months in prison and released on May 23.
Svetnoy’s lawyers further contend in their pleadings that Baldwin’s Fifth Amendment-related requests for stays in Svetnoy’s case brought about some of the delays in getting discovery done in the civil case.
“As a result of defendants’ multiple stays requested and ordered during this civil proceeding in deference to defendant Baldwin’s criminal trial, plaintiff has had little more than six months total during the entirety of this litigation to conduct any discovery while defendants have had an unfettered ability to investigate the underlying facts of this case during the ongoing criminal trial these past few years,” Svetnoy’s attorneys state in their court papers.
Baldwin’s deposition, scheduled in September, will provide key testimony regarding negligence and punitive damages as well as what happened on the “Rust” set prior to and on the day of the shooting though his “unique role as both an actor and producer of the movie,” the Svetnoy attorneys further state in their court papers.
Svetnoy claimed in his original suit filed in November 2021 that the shooting on the film’s set “was caused by the negligent acts and omissions” of the multiple defendants in his suit. In a subsequent an amended complaint, Svetnoy added causes of action for assault and intentional infliction of emotional distress against Baldwin only.
Svetnoy was among the first “Rust” crew members to publicly speak out about the shooting that killed the 42-year-old Hutchins while Baldwin was helping to prepare camera angles on the film’s set near Santa Fe. The weapon, which was supposed to contain only blank rounds, discharged a lead bullet that struck Hutchins in the chest then lodged in the shoulder of director Joel Souza, now 52.
But the actor’s lawyers contend in their court papers that Baldwin was not negligent because he was not responsible for safety, particularly as to prop guns, on the “Rust” set. The same lawyers further state that there also is no evidence of intentional acts to support Svetnoy’s claims for assault or emotional distress.
Last July 12, a New Mexico judge dismissed the criminal case against Baldwin in mid-trial on grounds that the prosecution had suppressed evidence.