The judge hearing the wrongful death lawsuit against actor Alec Baldwin has agreed to seal from public view the terms of a proposed settlement agreement and approval hearings that benefit the son of slain cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.
ADVERTISEMENTThe judge hearing the wrongful death lawsuit against actor Alec Baldwin has agreed to seal from public view the terms of a proposed settlement agreement and approval hearings that benefit the son of slain cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.
The New Mexico judge said the right to privacy for Hutchins' 10-year-old son overrides obligations for public disclosure.
“What is driving my decision is really the interests of the minor child. And that is one of the very most powerful reasons to seal a matter,” District Court Judge Bryan Biedscheid said.
Hutchins died in October 2021 after being struck by a live bullet on the Western film Rust set in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Baldwin, actor and co-producer of the film, was pointing a pistol at Hutchins during a rehearsal when the gun went off, killing her and wounding director Joel Souza.
He and other film crewmembers have disputed the accusations that they were lax with safety standards.
Widower Matthew Hutchins filed the wrongful death suit last year against Rust producers, including Baldwin, as well as members of the film crew with safety responsibilities and an ammunition supplier.
Halyna Hutchins' son Andros Hutchins, who was nine at the time of the shooting, is also named as a claimant.
Lawyers for the boy said that secrecy provisions are paramount to protect his privacy and finalise a settlement with Rust producers.
Baldwin is also confronting criminal charges of involuntary manslaughter in separate court proceedings and has pleaded not guilty, with two weeks of evidentiary hearings scheduled in May. The actor has called on a judge to throw out an “especially misguided” lawsuit against him by Hutchins' family.
Hutchins' parents and sister are seeking compensation for infliction of emotional distress, negligence and a loss of consortium.
In court documents filed last week, Baldwin argued that the lawsuit should be dismissed because the family had been distant from Hutchins in the years leading up to her death. Baldwin also argued that he already reached a settlement with Matthew Hutchins in October that opened the way for the filming of Rust to resume in Montana.
