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    Wednesday, May 08, 2024

    'Rust' script supervisor sues producers including Alec Baldwin, says scene did not call for gun to be fired

    Another lawsuit has been filed alleging negligence and unsafe workplace conditions on the set of "Rust," the New Mexico film production on which cinematographer Halyna Hutchins was killed last month.

    Script supervisor Mamie Mitchell is suing "Rust" producers and several production companies, as well as actor and producer Alec Baldwin, who fired the revolver that killed Hutchins on Oct. 21; Hannah Gutierrez, the armorer in charge of safely handling firearms on set; and Dave Halls, the first assistant director who handed Baldwin the gun. Mitchell said she was also injured during the incident, and is seeking damages for assault, intentional infliction of emotional distress and deliberate infliction of harm.

    The complaint, filed Wednesday in Los Angeles Superior Court, makes the notable assertion that Baldwin intentionally, and "without cause or excuse," discharged the firearm despite the fact that his upcoming scene did not call for a gun to be fired. It also states that he pointed the revolver toward Mitchell, Hutchins and director Joel Souza "even though protocol was not to do so."

    "It was discussed that there would be 3 tight camera shots when filming resumed," the lawsuit reads. "One camera shot would be focused on DEFENDANT BALDWIN'S eyes, one would be focused on a blood stain on DEFENDANT BALDWIN'S shoulder, and the third would focus on DEFENDANT BALDWIN'S torso as he reached his hand down to his holster and removed the gun. There was nothing in the script about the gun being discharged by DEFENDANT BALDWIN or by any other person."

    The Washington Post has reached out to representatives of Baldwin, Gutierrez and Halls for comment.

    News of Mitchell's lawsuit arrives a week after chief lighting technician Serge Svetnoy sued around two dozen people involved with the "Rust" production, also including Baldwin, Gutierrez and Halls. His was the first known lawsuit related to the shooting, which also wounded Souza. Sventnoy said he cradled Hutchins's head as she lay bleeding, adding at a news conference that he "tried to save her life."

    "What a tragedy and injustice when a person loses her life on film set while making art," he said.

    A number of crew members were assembled inside a church building on Bonanza Creek Ranch in Santa Fe when Baldwin fired the .45 Long Colt revolver. Mitchell, standing in close proximity, called for help after Hutchins and Souza were shot. In 911 call audio obtained by The Post, Mitchell placed blame on the "AD that yelled at me at lunch asking about revisions," referring to Halls.

    "He's supposed to check the guns," she said. "He's responsible for what happened."

    An affidavit filed by a detective from the Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office states that Gutierrez had set up three firearms on a gray cart outside the building, from which Halls grabbed one. It said he yelled, "Cold gun!" and handed the revolver to Baldwin, a term indicating it did not contain any live rounds. Halls later told the detective he was unsure whether the weapon had been checked thoroughly enough.

    Experts previously told The Post that assistant directors aren't supposed to handle firearms on set; only the armorer or a designated props person is authorized to hand an actor a gun. Mitchell's lawsuit repeats this characterization of duties and states that "Mr. Baldwin, being an industry veteran, knew that the gun in question should not have been handed to him by the Assistant Director." It added that he should have either had the armorer demonstrate that the gun was unloaded, or checked it himself.

    The lawsuit also noted claims that Gutierrez allowed firearms and ammunition to be left unattended during a lunch break, despite industry protocol calling for them to be "secured throughout the production." Jason Bowles, an attorney for Gutierrez, said on the "Today" show earlier this month that Gutierrez had no idea how a live round got into the box labeled "dummy." In a statement, Bowles and fellow attorney Robert Gorence wrote that Gutierrez had been spread thin while working on "Rust" due to having been hired for two separate positions, armorer and key props assistant.

    "Mr. Baldwin chose to play Russian Roulette with a loaded gun without checking it and without having the Armorer do so," Mitchell's complaint reads. "The fact that live ammunition was allowed on a movie set, that guns and ammunition were left unattended, that the gun in question was handed to Mr. Baldwin by the Assistant director who had no business doing so, the fact that safety bulletins were not promulgated or ignored, coupled with the fact that the scene in question did not call for a gun to be fired at all, makes this a case where injury or death was much more than a possibility - it was a likely result."

    Mitchell alleged that the "Rust" producers' efforts to cut costs and stick to a "shoe string budget" wound up endangering the lives of crew members, claims of negligence echoed in Svetnoy's lawsuit and comments made publicly by first camera assistant Lane Luper. Luper resigned from "Rust" the day before Hutchins's death, later explaining on "Good Morning America" that he had expressed concerns to producers about relaxed covid policies, a housing situation requiring crew members to drive long distances and a lack of gun safety on set.

    "I think with 'Rust,' it was a perfect storm of the armorer, the assistant director, the culture that was on set - the rushing," he said. "It was everything. It wasn't just one individual. Everything had to fall into place perfectly for this one-in-a-trillion thing to happen."

    In a statement shared with The Post by her attorney, Gloria Allred, Mitchell said the tragedy "has taken away the Joy in my life."

    "Halyna was a woman who spoke the same language of film as I did," Mitchell said. "I have been robbed of my new friend. I am very sad and heartbroken for her son and husband, her sister and family and all of her friends who are suffering this preventable and unimaginable loss. I never want what happened on our set to ever happen to anyone else."

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