The remaining defendants in a lawsuit filed by a lighting technician on the film “Rust” who says he suffered emotional distress from the fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins by Alec Baldwin in 2021 won a round in court when a judge granted their request for a delay in the scheduled fall start of the plaintiff’s trial.
In court papers previously filed with Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Karine Mkrtchyan, attorneys for Baldwin and his company, El Dorado Pictures Inc.; Rust Movie Productions LLC; and “Rust” first assistant director David Halls stated that a hold on Serge Svetnoy’s suit as to the Baldwin defendants while Baldwin was tried and acquitted in criminal court in New Mexico effectively prevented the case from getting into full discovery mode until January 2025.
On Tuesday, Mkrtchyan reset the scheduled trial from Oct. 12 to March 8, 2027, the new date requested by the defendants. Both sides verbally agreed to the change in trial dates.
In their court papers, the defendants also noted that Baldwin and El Dorado have hired new attorneys who have been unable to obtain all the documents they need from the Baldwin defendants’ prior counsel. In addition, Baldwin and one of his experts were not available for the Oct. 12 trial date, the defendants further contended in their court papers.
Further, a new lawyer in the same law firm is now the lead attorney representing Rust Movie Productions and Halls has been waiting five months to get responses to written discovery served in late March, according to the defendants’ 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 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 Souza, now 53.
In July 2024, a New Mexico judge dismissed the criminal case against Baldwin in mid-trial on grounds that the prosecution had suppressed evidence.