Potential legal woes mount for Alec Baldwin after movie set shooting
- Prosecutors haven’t ruled out criminal charges after Alec Baldwin fatally shot a cinematographer on set
- ‘Enormous amount of bullets’ were found on Rust film set, local district attorney says
Alec Baldwin the actor, who pulled the trigger on a prop gun while filming Rust in New Mexico and unwittingly killed a cinematographer and injured a director, likely won’t be held criminally or civilly liable for the tragedy.
But Alec Baldwin the producer might be, along with several others in leadership positions for the Western.
Experts predict a tremendous legal fallout from the tragedy, definitely in civil lawsuits and potentially in criminal charges. In addition to Baldwin, a call sheet for the day of the shooting lists five producers, four executive producers, a line producer and a co-producer. They, as well as assistant director Dave Halls and armourer Hannah Gutierrez, could all face some sort of liability even if they weren’t on location Thursday.
The payouts – which could be covered in part by insurance held by the production company, Rust Movie Productions – would likely be in the “millions and millions” of dollars.
“There was clearly negligence on the set,” said Adam Winkler, a professor at the UCLA School of Law and a gun policy expert. “The producers had a duty to preserve the safety of the crew. There were obvious hazards on the set.”
Santa Fe-based District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies said that the investigation remains in the preliminary phase and her office was far from making any decisions about whether any charges would be filed.