Aerial footage shows an old church that appeared to be blocked off at the scene of the “Rust” film set in New Mexico. Alec Baldwin inset.
In order to protect his right against self-incrimination in the criminal case, Alec Baldwin is asking a judge to put on hold a civil suit filed against him and other defendants by a script supervisor who says she suffered emotional distress from being in close proximity to the accidental fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of the film "Rust'' in 2021.
Baldwin's lawyers maintain that the actor's Fifth Amendment rights will be jeopardized in the criminal case if plaintiff Mamie Mitchell's lawsuit is not stayed pending the outcome of the criminal proceedings.
"The bottom line is that Baldwin has a constitutional right not to testify against himself,'' Baldwin's lawyers argue in court papers filed Friday in Los Angeles Superior Court. "But unless this action is stayed, his lawful exercise of his constitutional rights will severely prejudice him.''
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Mitchell was standing adjacent to Hutchins, 42, when the cinematographer was killed Oct. 21, 2021, while Baldwin, a producer and star of "Rust,'' was helping to prepare camera angles for a scene on the film's set near Santa Fe, New Mexico. Baldwin fired a weapon that was supposed to contain only blank rounds but discharged a lead bullet that struck Hutchins in the chest, then lodged in the shoulder of director Joel Souza, now 49.
Mitchell's suit, originally filed in November 2021, names multiple defendants, including Baldwin and Halls. She alleges she suffered physical and emotional damages. Baldwin, 64, and 25-year-old armorer Hannah Guttierez-Reed were subsequently charged with involuntary manslaughter and the actor's attorneys say the civil case needs to be stayed in order to protect the actor's Fifth Amendment rights in the criminal case.
"That (Mitchell) intends to seek, and the prosecutors plan to rely on, the same evidence concerning defendant's involvement or lack thereof in the shooting means discovery in this case may be used against Baldwin in the criminal proceeding,'' Baldwin's lawyers state. "That would allow the prosecutors to obtain through civil discovery here information they are not entitled to under criminal discovery.''
A hearing on Baldwin's motion is scheduled March 22 before Judge Michael E. Whitaker.
