The assistant director of the film “Rust” is joining Alec Baldwin in requesting dismissal of loss of consortium claims filed against both men in a lawsuit by the parents and sister of Halyna Hutchins, the 42-year-old cinematographer who was fatally shot when a prop gun wielded by the actor discharged on the movie set in New Mexico in 2021.
The family’s Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit was filed Feb. 9 on behalf of Hutchins’ mother, Olga Solovey; father, Anatolii Androsovych; and younger sister, Svetlana Zemko. All three are Ukrainian citizens, living near Kiev. The filing came just months after a separate legal action filed by Hutchins’ husband was settled out of court for an undisclosed amount, with a stipulation that the filming of “Rust” would continue with Matthew Hutchins serving as a producer.
Attorneys for Assistant Director David Halls filed court papers on Monday with Judge Michael E. Whitaker arguing that the two loss of consortium claims against Halls, one of which incorporates negligence, should be dismissed. Halls allegedly handed Alec Baldwin the gun, saying that it was safe to use.
“Plaintiffs, as the decedent’s mother, father and sister, fail to allege facts sufficient to allege a cause of action against (Halls) for loss of consortium damages and cannot do so where they do not have legal standing to bring such cause of action,” according to Halls’ attorneys, who further state in their court papers that only a spouse has such standing to do so.
The Halls attorneys also maintain the family’s claim for punitive damages against their client should be stricken.
“The factual allegations made specifically against defendant Halls in support of plaintiffs’ claim for punitive damages are entirely based upon an unintentional accident, not upon malice, oppression or fraud,” Halls’ attorneys argue in their court papers.
In their court papers, Baldwin’s attorneys make a similar argument regarding the four loss of consortium claims brought against the actor.
” In California, a marriage between the plaintiff and the decedent is a necessary element for loss of consortium,” Baldwin’s lawyers argue in their court papers. “None of the plaintiffs can plead or prove such a relationship to Halyna Hutchins.”
The plaintiffs’ causes of action would fail as well under the law in New Mexico, which recognizes loss of consortium claims outside of the marital relationship only in narrow circumstances where the claimant and the injured party share a sufficiently close relationship, the Baldwin lawyers state in their court papers.
Baldwin has repeatedly denied culpability in Hutchins’ death, which occurred Oct. 21, 2021, inside a church building on the Western set of “Rust” outside Santa Fe. Baldwin was wielding a prop gun, helping set up camera angles for an upcoming scene, when the weapon discharged, killing Hutchins and wounding director Joel Souza, now 49.
Baldwin has insisted that he was told the gun wasn’t loaded when it was handed to him. He also contends that while he pulled back the hammer of the weapon, he never pulled the trigger.
The 65-year-old actor was charged in January with involuntary manslaughter, as was 25-year-old armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, herself a co-defendant in the suit by Hutchins’ parents and sister. However, criminal charges were dropped against Baldwin last week.
Halls, 63, pleaded no contest in March to a misdemeanor gun charge and was sentenced to six months of unsupervised probation.
A hearing on the Baldwin and Halls motions is scheduled July 13.