Judge dismisses Alec Baldwin's lawsuit over ‘Rust' shooting
The ruling, made public Wednesday, tossed the case without prejudice,* meaning Baldwin's legal team can refile it - and likely will.
According to court records, the lawsuit had seen no significant movement since it was filed earlier this year in state district court. But Baldwin's lead attorney, Luke Nikas, called the dismissal a 'nonevent,' telling AP that they've been engaged in good-faith settlement talks and plan to refile the suit if those talks fall apart.
The original lawsuit names special prosecutor Kari Morrissey, Santa Fe District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies, three sheriff's office investigators, and the Santa Fe County Board of Commissioners as defendants.
Baldwin's legal team accuse them of defamation and political manoeuvring, claiming the actor was singled out for personal gain.
'Defendants sought at every turn to scapegoat Baldwin for the acts and omissions of others, regardless of the evidence or the law,' the lawsuit states.
Baldwin had previously faced an involuntary manslaughter charge, but that case collapsed in court last year when it emerged that prosecutors may have withheld crucial evidence. The charge was ultimately dismissed.
A key twist came when it was revealed that live ammunition may have been brought into the sheriff's office months earlier - raising major questions about how the deadly bullet made its way onto the set.
The tragedy unfolded in October 2021 during a rehearsal at a film-set ranch near Santa Fe. Baldwin was holding a prop pistol that discharged, killing Hutchins and wounding director Joel Souza. The actor has maintained he did not pull the trigger, only the hammer, when the revolver went off.
Separately, the shooting led to an involuntary manslaughter conviction at trial last year against movie weapons supervisor Hannah Gutierrez-Reed. She is serving out a maximum sentence of 1 1/2 years at a state penitentiary.
But Baldwin isn't out of legal jeopardy yet. He and other Rust producers are still being sued by Hutchins' parents and younger sister in New Mexico state court.
Court records show a deposition for Baldwin in that case was put off in May and has yet to be rescheduled.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Euronews
5 days ago
- Euronews
Judge dismisses Alec Baldwin's lawsuit over ‘Rust' shooting
A New Mexico judge has dismissed Alec Baldwin's lawsuit against prosecutors and law enforcement, claiming malicious prosecution and civil rights violations in the fatal on-set shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins in 2021. The ruling, made public Wednesday, tossed the case without prejudice,* meaning Baldwin's legal team can refile it - and likely will. According to court records, the lawsuit had seen no significant movement since it was filed earlier this year in state district court. But Baldwin's lead attorney, Luke Nikas, called the dismissal a 'nonevent,' telling AP that they've been engaged in good-faith settlement talks and plan to refile the suit if those talks fall apart. The original lawsuit names special prosecutor Kari Morrissey, Santa Fe District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies, three sheriff's office investigators, and the Santa Fe County Board of Commissioners as defendants. Baldwin's legal team accuse them of defamation and political manoeuvring, claiming the actor was singled out for personal gain. 'Defendants sought at every turn to scapegoat Baldwin for the acts and omissions of others, regardless of the evidence or the law,' the lawsuit states. Baldwin had previously faced an involuntary manslaughter charge, but that case collapsed in court last year when it emerged that prosecutors may have withheld crucial evidence. The charge was ultimately dismissed. A key twist came when it was revealed that live ammunition may have been brought into the sheriff's office months earlier - raising major questions about how the deadly bullet made its way onto the set. The tragedy unfolded in October 2021 during a rehearsal at a film-set ranch near Santa Fe. Baldwin was holding a prop pistol that discharged, killing Hutchins and wounding director Joel Souza. The actor has maintained he did not pull the trigger, only the hammer, when the revolver went off. Separately, the shooting led to an involuntary manslaughter conviction at trial last year against movie weapons supervisor Hannah Gutierrez-Reed. She is serving out a maximum sentence of 1 1/2 years at a state penitentiary. But Baldwin isn't out of legal jeopardy yet. He and other Rust producers are still being sued by Hutchins' parents and younger sister in New Mexico state court. Court records show a deposition for Baldwin in that case was put off in May and has yet to be rescheduled.
Euronews
22-07-2025
- Euronews
Initial probe into South Korea's Jeju Air crash hints at pilot error
The initial results of an investigation into December's devastating Jeju Air crash in South Korea showed that while both of the plane's engines sustained bird strikes, the pilots turned off the less-damaged one just before its crash-landing. The findings on Tuesday, which implied human error, quickly sparked vehement protests from bereaved families and fellow pilots who accused authorities of trying to shift responsibility for the disaster to the deceased pilots. South Korea's Aviation and Railway Accident Investigation Board initially planned to publicise the results of the investigation of the plane's engines on Saturday. But it was forced to cancel its press briefing in the face of strong protests by relatives of crash victims who were informed of the findings earlier in the day, according to government officials. "If they want to say their investigation was done in a reliable, independent manner, they should have come up with evidence that backs up their explanation," said Kim Yu-jin, head of an association of bereaved families. "None of us resent the pilots." According to a copy of an unpublished briefing report obtained by the AP news agency, a South Korean-led multilateral investigation team said it found no defects in the plane's engines built by France's Safran and GE. The report said thorough examinations of the engines found the plane's right engine suffered more serious internal damage following bird strikes as it was engulfed by fire. But the pilots switched off the plane's left engine, the report said citing probes on the cockpit voice recorder, the flight data recorder and examinations of both engines. Officials earlier said the black boxes of the Boeing jetliner stopped recording about four minutes before the accident, complicating investigations into the cause of the disaster. The cockpit voice recorder and the flight data recorder cited in the briefing report refers to data stored before the recording stopped. The report didn't say why the pilots shut off the less-damaged engine and stopped short of saying whether it was an error by the pilots. Bereaved families slam the probe Bereaved families and pilots at Jeju Air and other airlines blasted the investigation findings, saying authorities must disclose the cockpit voice recorder and the flight data recorder. "We, the 6,500 pilots at civilian airlines, can't contain our seething anger against the preposterous argument by the Aviation and Railway Accident Investigation Board that lost neutrality," the Korean Pilot Unions Alliance said in a statement Tuesday. Unionised pilots at Jeju Air also issued a statement urging authorities to present scientific evidence to show the plane should have landed normally if it flew with the less-damaged engine. The latest report focused only on engine issues and didn't mention other factors that could also be blamed for the crash. Among them is the concrete structure the plane crashed into. It housed a set of antennas called localisers designed to guide aircraft safely during landings and many analysts say it should have been made with more easily breakable materials. Some pilots say they suspect the government wouldn't want to mainly blame the localisers or bird strikes for mass deaths as Muan Airport is under direct management of the Transport Ministry. The Aviation and Railway Accident Investigation Board and the Transport Ministry have offered no public response to the criticism. They said they also won't publicly discuss the engine investigations to respect demands by bereaved families. Authorities aim to publish the investigation's final results by next June, a person familiar with the investigation said. The Boeing 737-800 operated by Jeju Air landed on its belly without its landing gear deployed at South Korea's southern Muan International Airport on 29 December. It overshot the runaway, slammed into a concrete structure and burst into flames. It was the deadliest disaster in South Korea's aviation history in decades, killing all but two of the 181 people on board.
Euronews
18-07-2025
- Euronews
Brazil's former leader Bolsonaro ordered to wear ankle monitor
Brazil's former President Jair Bolsonaro has been ordered to wear an ankle monitor, his press office said on Friday. The development came as federal police conducted searches at his home and his party's headquarters in Brasília, according to people familiar with the court order. Local media reported that Bolsonaro is also barred from using social media or contacting other individuals under investigation by the Supreme Federal Court, including his son, Eduardo Bolsonaro, a Brazilian lawmaker who currently lives in the United States and is known for his close ties to US President Donald Trump. A police statement said that officers in Brasília carried out "two search and seizure warrants, in addition to precautionary measures other than arrest, in compliance with a decision by the Supreme Court." The statement did not name Bolsonaro. Bolsonaro is currently on trial at the Supreme Court accused of leading an alleged attempt to stage a coup to overturn the 2022 election in which he was defeated by left-wing president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Live aerial footage from local broadcasters showed federal police vehicles outside Bolsonaro's residence in Brasília. Congressman Sóstenes Cavalcante, the leader of Bolsonaro's party in the lower house, told the AP news agency that officers also searched Bolsonaro's office at the party's headquarters. He described the operation as "another chapter in the persecution of conservatives and right-wing figures" in Brazil. A lawyer for Bolsonaro did not immediately respond to a request for comment. On Tuesday, Brazil's Prosecutor General Paulo Gonet said in a report to the Supreme Court that the "evidence is clear: the defendant acted systematically, throughout his mandate and after his defeat at the polls, to incite insurrection and the destabilization of the democratic rule of law." Bolsonaro has described the trial on X as a "witch hunt," echoing a term used by Trump when he came to his South American ally's defence last week. Last week, Trump imposed a 50% import tax on Brazil, directly tying the tariffs to Bolsonaro's trial. The US president hosted Bolsonaro at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida when both were in power in 2020. Trump has compared Bolsonaro's situation with his own legal battles and speaking to reporters at the White House on Tuesday, repeated the claim that the trial is a "witch hunt."
