A sweeping victory by Alec Baldwin’s attorneys in a New Mexico courtroom Friday lifted the threat of criminal charges over the actor’s role in the shooting death of the cinematographer on the set of the movie “Rust.” But several lawsuits filed against him after the tragedy are still pending.
A lawsuit has been filed by members of the “Rust” crew and the family of Halyna Hutchins, the cinematographer who was killed when an old-fashioned revolver that Mr. Baldwin was positioning for a close-up discharged a live round that should not have been on the set.
The prosecution of Mr. Baldwin has been somewhat delayed by the involuntary manslaughter case, which collapsed Friday in a series of stunning events. The chief special prosecutor took the stand before the judge dismissed the case altogether, finding that the state intentionally withheld evidence from Mr. Baldwin’s defense that could have helped it.
Mr. Baldwin left the courtroom in tears. On Saturday morning, he posted a message on Instagram expressing his gratitude to his supporters, saying: “To all of you, you will never know how much I appreciate your kindness to my family.”
Now that the criminal case is over, his legal team will be able to focus on the civil litigation against Mr. Baldwin, who was also a producer on “Rust.”
A lawsuit filed by Ms. Hutchins’ husband, Matthew Hutchins, months after the fatal October 2021 shooting accuses Mr. Baldwin of reckless conduct while handling the gun and taking cost-cutting measures that endangered the crew. The lawsuit claims the production company failed to follow industry-standard firearms safety rules, rushed the shoot and allowed an inexperienced gunsmith to handle the weapons.
The lawsuit against Mr. Baldwin and Rust Movie Productions, the company that oversees the film, at one point appeared to be resolved by a settlement agreement. But Mr. Hutchins’s lawyers wrote in a court filing this year that the “Rust” producers were behind on some of the settlement payments, which the filing said should have been paid in full by June 2023. Ms. Hutchins’s young son, who was 9 at the time of her death, is a party to the settlement agreement.
“We respect the court’s decision,” Brian J. Panish, Mr. Hutchins’ attorney, said in a statement released Friday after the criminal case was dismissed. “We look forward to presenting all of the evidence to the jury and holding Mr. Baldwin accountable for his actions in the senseless death of Halyna Hutchins.”
In a brief telephone interview, Mr. Panish said the producers had “breached the agreement” and that “the civil case is still ongoing.”
Mr. Baldwin’s lawyer did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
His defense claimed that he was not negligent in handling the gun that day because he had no idea that the revolver contained a live round, which was prohibited on set. Witnesses testified that the gun was declared “cold,” meaning it did not contain any live rounds. Two other production members failed to catch the live round that had been loaded into the gun.
“More than anyone else on this set, Baldwin has been wrongly viewed as the perpetrator of this tragedy,” one of his attorneys, Luke Nikas, wrote in court papers in 2022, as the litigation mounted.
The amount of the deal between Mr. Hutchins and the producers of “Rust” was not disclosed, but part of the agreement was that Mr. Hutchins would serve as executive producer on a new production of the film. Once his wife’s work is released worldwide, the family would benefit from the film’s revenue.
Mr. Baldwin agreed to reprise the role of Harland Rust, a hardened outlaw who helps his grandson escape justice. Production resumed in Montana with the same director, Joel Souza, who was wounded in the shootout. A new gunsmith ensured that no weapons capable of firing were used on the set.
Melina Spadone, an attorney for Rust Movie Productions, said the production company submitted “Rust” to international film festivals to attract distributors.
“Our two main goals are to maximize the money for the family and to maximize the visibility of a posthumous award for Halyna’s creative cinematography,” Spadone said.
Spadone confirmed an Associated Press report that one reason the financial arrangements were disrupted was that the New Mexico Tax Department unexpectedly rejected the production’s application for a tax credit. The film was valued at $1.6 million.
New Mexico’s tax incentive program is one reason “Rust,” which originally had a budget of about $6.5 million, ended up being filmed in the state. The production has appealed the tax department’s decision.
In a statement after Baldwin’s manslaughter case was dismissed, Spadone said, “We have respected the legal process every step of the way, and today’s court decision speaks volumes about what happened.” She noted that the production was looking forward to releasing the film while “working alongside Halyna’s husband.”
Rust Movie Productions and Mr. Baldwin’s lawyers have contested other negligence claims in court. In testimony and legal filings since the shooting, members of the “Rust” production — as well as Mr. Baldwin — have refuted the argument that the set sacrificed safety to cut costs.
In response to a lawsuit filed in New Mexico by three crew members who said they were affected by the shooting, the actor’s lawyers said industry safety standards “place the responsibility for firearms on those who are competent to ensure that they are used properly,” not on the actors who wield them. They argued that Mr. Baldwin’s authority as the film’s producer was limited to his creative input on script changes and casting.
A judge in that case ruled that Mr. Baldwin could not be deposed until his criminal trial is over.
Other plaintiffs in “Rust” include the film’s lighting designer, script supervisor Mamie Mitchell, who was next to Mr. Baldwin at the time of the shooting, and Ms. Hutchins’s father, mother and sister, who live in Ukraine. After Ms. Mitchell and her family’s claims were dismissed by a California court, they filed a new lawsuit in New Mexico.