Producers of Alec Baldwin film hire law firm for shooting probe

[October 28, 2021]  By David Thomas

(Reuters) -Actor Alec Baldwin and other producers of the film "Rust" have hired the law firm Jenner & Block to investigate Baldwin's accidental fatal shooting last week of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.

In a letter sent to cast and crew on Tuesday night and seen by Reuters, the "Rust" production team said Jenner "will have full discretion about who to interview and any conclusions they draw." The investigation will be led by attorney Brandon Fox https://www.reuters.com/legal/
government/top-criminal-prosecutor-la-returns-lead-jenner-office-2021-07-21, the managing partner of Jenner's Los Angeles office, according to the letter.

The production team also said it is cooperating with authorities investigating the shooting that occurred last Thursday at a filming location in New Mexico. The film "Rust" is a Western set in the 1880s.

Jenner was brought in to investigate by Rust Movie Productions LLC, which includes producers Baldwin, Ryan Donnell Smith, Nathan Klingher, Ryan Winterstern, Matt DelPiano and Anjul Nigam, a spokesperson for the production team said.

The law firm will observe interviews between crew members and the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the federal agency responsible for workplace safety, the letter said. The letter noted that it is standard practice for the agency to investigate workplace deaths.

"We know that reliving this tragedy will be hard, but your participation is important for all of us to be able to fully understand what happened, and we encourage you to share your perspective," the production team letter said.

The letter said that it is typical when investigations are under way to ask witnesses to preserve any related information "such as emails, texts, drives, paper documents or other physical items."

"If you have any question about whether something should be preserved, please err on the side of preservation," it said.

Jenner is known for conducting high-profile investigations. On Tuesday, it wrapped up an investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct that were leveled at a former coach for the Chicago Blackhawks National Hockey League team.

The firm has also overseen monitorships into Credit Suisse AG, Deutsche Bank and the United Auto Workers union.

Fox is a former federal prosecutor who helped oversee the U.S. government's $3 billion settlement https://www.reuters.com/article/us-wells-fargo-scandal-deal/wells-fargo-to-pay-3-billion-to-u-s-admits-pressuring-workers-in-fake-accounts-scandal-idUSKBN20F2KN with Wells Fargo last year to resolve criminal and civil probes into fraudulent sales practices. He also led a corruption and civil rights investigation into the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department that resulted in several convictions https://www.reuters.com/article/us-california-sheriff/former-l-a-county-sheriff-pleads-guilty-to-corruption-charge-idUSKCN0VJ29H.

(Reporting by David Thomas in Chicago; Editing by David Bario, Will Dunham and Cynthia Osterman)

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