Alec Baldwin: Helena Hutchins’ family is proceeding with the civil suit

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WATCH: Alec Baldwin practicing with a gun before a fatal shooting

The family of Halyna Hutchins, the Rust cinematographer who died on set, says they will sue Alec Baldwin even though criminal charges were dropped.

Manslaughter charges against Baldwin, who carried the handgun that fired the fatal shot, were dismissed in New Mexico on Thursday.

An attorney for Hutchins’ parents and sister said the actress “cannot escape responsibility” for her death.

Mr. Baldwin had already come to terms with her husband and 10-year-old son.

In October 2021, Baldwin was practicing firing a gun on a ranch near Santa Fe when it exploded, killing 42-year-old Ukrainian-born Hutchins and wounding director Joel Sousa.

The actor denied pulling the trigger, although an FBI report later concluded that the gun could not be fired without pulling the trigger.

He was scheduled to appear in court for a preliminary hearing on May 3. But prosecutors said on Thursday they would withdraw charges against the Emmy winner after new facts were revealed that require further investigation.

The film’s creator, Hana Gutierrez Reid, still faces two counts of manslaughter.

Image source, Getty Images

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Halyna Hutchins (right) died on the set of Rust in New Mexico after Mr. Baldwin fired a publicity gun

Gloria Allred, the attorney representing Hutchins’ mother Olga Solovey, her father Anatoly Andrusovich and her sister Svetlana Zhemko, said Friday her clients “remain hopeful” despite the prosecutor’s decision to drop criminal charges.

“Mr. Baldwin may pretend that he is not responsible for pulling the trigger and firing a live bullet that ended Halina’s life,” the family’s attorney said in a statement.

“He can run to Montana and pretend he’s just an actor in a Wild West movie, but in real life, he can’t escape the fact that he had a major role in a tragedy that had real life consequences.”

Ms. Allred also represents the script supervisor who suffered from the shooting. The civil lawsuit against Baldwin also seeks to punish Ms. Gutierrez-Reed and several other Rust producers.

Filming for Rust resumed this week in Montana, after nearly 18 months of shooting.

In a statement, director Joel Sousa called the film’s resumption “bittersweet” and vowed to finish the film “on behalf of Halina.”

A lawyer for the film said that principal photography was expected to finish by May, and that no “functioning firearms” or ammunition were allowed to be placed.

This past October, Baldwin and Matthew, Mrs. Hutchins’ husband, reached a tentative agreement that made him executive producer on the film.

In a New Mexico court on Monday, a judge agreed to keep the terms of that deal sealed in order to protect the privacy of Hutchins’ young son.

In an effort to dismiss the lawsuit brought by the Ukraine-based Hochin family, Baldwin’s lawyers have called their action “misguided” and unlikely to survive legal scrutiny.

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