|
Baldwin's suit was filed in Los Angeles County
Superior Court as a cross complaint stemming from a previous
suit in which a different member of the crew named Baldwin and
the others as defendants.
It is one of many pieces of litigation stemming from the tragedy
of Oct. 21, 2021, which is also under criminal investigation and
could result in New Mexico state charges.
Baldwin's cross complaint names armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed,
first assistant director Dave Halls, prop supplier Seth Kenney
and prop master Sarah Zachry. Attorneys for Gutierrez-Reed,
Halls and Kenney did not immediately respond to requests for
statements in their clients' defense. Reuters could not locate
an attorney for Zachry.
All four were also named as defendants along with Baldwin in the
original lawsuit filed by a script supervisor who claimed the
shooting caused her severe emotional distress.
Baldwin's cross complaint alleges negligence and seeks damages
to be determined at trial for the "immense grief" he endures.
"This tragedy happened because live bullets were delivered to
the set and loaded into the gun, Gutierrez-Reed failed to check
the bullets or the gun carefully, Halls failed to check the gun
carefully and yet announced the gun was safe before handing it
to Baldwin, and Zachry failed to disclose that Gutierrez-Reed
had been acting recklessly off set and was a safety risk to
those around her," Baldwin's cross complaint said.
The suit was written by Luke Nikas, an attorney for Baldwin who
is with the firm Quinn Emanuel.
Hutchins was killed when a revolver Baldwin was rehearsing with
during filming in New Mexico fired a live round that hit her and
movie director Joel Souza, who survived.
In a television interview, the actor said he did not pull the
trigger of the Colt .45 revolver and it fired after he cocked
it.
An FBI forensic test of the single-action revolver found it
"functioned normally" and would not fire without the trigger
being pulled.
(Reporting by Daniel Trotta; Editing by Leslie Adler)
[© 2022 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.
|
|
