Two years after Alec Baldwin was cleared of criminal charges in a fatal shooting on the “Rust” film set, a judge on Friday allowed a civil case to proceed that could result in another high-profile trial over whether the actor bears responsibility for the tragedy.
The lawsuit was filed by Serge Svetnoy, the movie’s chief lighting technician, who was standing near the cinematographer Halyna Hutchins when she was shot on the New Mexico set in October 2021.
Mr. Baldwin, who was playing a 19th-century outlaw, had been positioning his revolver for the camera when it discharged, firing a live round that hit Ms. Hutchins. The movie’s director was struck by the same bullet but survived.
Mr. Svetnoy accused the actor and the production company behind the movie of negligence, citing a failure to follow gun safety protocols, including the prohibition against pointing a weapon toward another person.
Mr. Baldwin has denied pulling the trigger and has said that, as an actor, he did not have a duty to personally check the contents of the gun. On set, he was told that the weapon was “cold,” meaning that it did not contain live ammunition. Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, the movie’s armorer, who was responsible for guns on the set, spent over a year in prison after she was convicted of involuntary manslaughter.
In his decision on the civil case, Judge Maurice Leiter of Los Angeles Superior Court found that Mr. Svetnoy’s allegations of negligence and intentional infliction of emotional distress were sufficient to move forward to trial.
“A reasonable jury, based on the evidence provided by Plaintiff, could find that Mr. Baldwin acted with a conscious disregard for the rights and safety of others through the ways his actions fell short of accepted industry firearms safety practices,” the judge wrote in court papers.
The judge dismissed another claim for assault, finding that Mr. Svetnoy presented “no evidence that Mr. Baldwin intended to cause harm to Plaintiff or anyone else.”
The trial is scheduled to start on Oct. 12.
Mr. Baldwin, 68, scored a major legal victory in 2024 when a judge in New Mexico dismissed the criminal case against him. The judge found that the prosecution had withheld evidence that could have shed light on how live rounds got onto the film set, where they should have been prohibited.
Although he has been relieved of the potential of prison time, Mr. Baldwin still faces cases in civil court. He and his lawyers will now have to consider whether to settle Mr. Svetnoy’s suit or proceed to trial, where it is likely he would testify.
Mr. Baldwin has addressed the “Rust” tragedy and the criminal prosecution extensively, including in podcasts and on a reality show centered on him and his family. He is currently suing the prosecutors who brought the case against him.
“It impacted me in every way — financially, career-wise, my wife, my kids, my health,” Mr. Baldwin said of the prosecution on a podcast by The Hollywood Reporter this month.
Mr. Svetnoy was a friend of Ms. Hutchins’s and said in his lawsuit that after she was struck by the bullet and fell to the ground, he cradled her head and tried to comfort her. He said he has suffered emotional trauma from that day.
Other defendants in his lawsuit include the production company behind “Rust” and Dave Halls, the movie’s first assistant director, who agreed to a plea deal on a charge of negligent use of a deadly weapon, avoiding prison time. Both have denied that Mr. Svetnoy is entitled to damages.
Julia Jacobs is an arts and culture reporter who often covers legal issues for The Times.
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