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Judge Michael E. Whitaker ruled on Thursday that “Rust” script supervisor Mamie Mitchell’s lawsuit against Alec Baldwin and other producers has been rescheduled for September 28.
Jude Whitaker moved the hearing to give the plaintiff the option to file an amended complaint and that he can seek punitive damages.
“Mitchell, who was standing next to cinematographer Halyna Hutchins when Hutchins was fatally shot with a prop weapon fired by the actor in October. Mitchell alleges extensive negligence on the New Mexico set and that the scene Baldwin was rehearsing never called for him to fire the weapon,” Deadline’s Dominic Patten reported.
The report added that Mitchell can seek punitive damages from some of the producers who sought to have the damages stricken.
“For pleading purposes, the court finds the first amended complaint alleges facts sufficient to establish despicable conduct carried out by moving defendants with a willful and conscious disregard of the rights or safety of others,” the judge wrote at the time.
Whitaker also noted that Mitchell’s lawyers alleged the four defendants “intentionally undertook a low-budget and cost-cutting scheme that was known to create unsafe conditions for movie production crews that resulted in moving defendants’ failure to ensure basic safety protocols with respect to the hazardous use of firearms.”
In their court papers, Mitchell’s attorneys alleged the producers “intentionally failed to hire experienced crew members to manage and handle the numerous weapons that were to be used in the film.”
The Santa Fe County Sheriff Adam Mendoza told the TODAY show that Alec Baldwin is “not off the hook” for the deadly incident yet.
“I don’t think anybody’s off the hook when it comes to criminal charges. I’ve said this before: I think there was complacency on the set. There was disorganization and a degree of negligence — whether that rises to a criminal level, that will be up to the district attorney,” he said during the interview.
Baldwin is still part of the ongoing investigation into the October 21, 2021 shooting of Hutchins on the New Mexico set of “Rust” after he fired a loaded gun at the cinematographer.
Baldwin has stated that he doesn’t believe any charges will be coming for him, but the district attorney doesn’t agree.
“Someone put a live bullet in a gun, a bullet that wasn’t even supposed to be on the property,” the actor said to ABC News host George Stephanopoulos. “Someone is responsible for what happened, and I can’t say who that is, but I know it’s not me.”
“I don’t know what happened on that set. I don’t know how that bullet arrived in that gun. I don’t know,” he said. “But I’m all for doing anything that will take us to a place where this is less likely to happen again.”
“I’ve been told by people who are in the know, in terms of even inside the state, that it’s highly unlikely that I would be charged with anything criminally,” Baldwin said.
This case is still under investigation, and no charges have been filed at this time.
