Actor/activist Alec Baldwin has lost his request to have a civil suit dismissed as the actor faces the possibility of criminal charges.
During a camera rehearsal on the Western feature Rust in October of 2021, Baldwin accidentally shot and killed 41-year-old cinematographer Halyna Hutchins. Prosecutors in New Mexico initially filed criminal charges of involuntary manslaughter against the actor. Those were then dropped in April, pending new evidence.
This new evidence came through last week when forensic testing proved the only way the gun in question could have fired was by Baldwin pulling the trigger. This means those criminal charges could be refiled. Additionally, Baldwin faces a civil lawsuit filed by Hutchins’ mother, father, and sister.
More than a year after the fatal shooting, three Rust crewmembers — Ross Addiego, Doran Curtin, and Reese Price — are suing Baldwin and the producers for injuries “including, but not limited to, hearing loss, temporary deafness, and vibrational shock” due to “negligent and reckless behavior on set that led to the fatal shooting.”
As John Nolte noted at Breitbart News,
Baldwin’s attorneys argued that the civil suit would violate the actor’s Fifth Amendment rights. With the possibility of criminal charges hanging over his head, anything he says during a civil trial or deposition could incriminate him. You have no Fifth Amendment protections in a civil suit. You must answer all questions under oath. The conflict is obvious. Questions Baldwin is forced to answer in the civil suit will be used to incriminate him in a criminal trial. Nevertheless, the judge still denied the motion to dismiss but did say it could be looked at again if criminal charges are filed.
Baldwin has claimed all along that he never pulled the trigger, that the gun went off by itself.