The husband of Halyna Hutchins, the cinematographer who was shot dead on the set of Alec Baldwin’s movie ‘Rust’, has hired lawyers and set to file a wrongful death lawsuit.
According to reports, Matthew Hutchins has hired the firm Panish, Shea, Boyle and Ravipudi in Los Angeles. Sources said that there will be multiple defendants in the suit and it will be filed on behalf of Matthew and their son, Andros, following Halyna’s death on October 21.
The news of the lawsuit comes as ‘Rust’ armorer, Hannah Gutierrez Reed said she’s not yet ready to speak about what happened.
Hannah told local media that it’s only been two weeks, and she’s not ready to speak on it yet. She noted that at this point in time, she is just referring and directing everyone to her lawyers.
Hannah’s lawyers suggested that a resentful film crew member may have planted the live round that killed cinematographer Hutchins inside a box of prop ammunition in a bid to “sabotage” the film.
In the wake of the fatal shooting that also wounded director Joel Souza, several crew members have come out claiming that they were overworked and denied hotel rooms in the vicinity of the New Mexico set.
According to the theories of Gutierrez Reed’s attorneys one of those “disgruntled” crew members may have planted the live round on set as an act of revenge, during an interview.
Jason Bowles said: “I believe that somebody who would do that. Somebody would want to sabotage the set or prove a point, or want to say they’re disgruntled, they’re unhappy”.
Bowles said his client was unaware that any live bullets were loaded into the gun before the deadly October 21 shooting near Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Gutierrez Reed has not been named a suspect, or charged with any crime in connection with Hutchins’ killing, but she retained legal representation.
Gutierrez Reed’s lawyers defended her actions saying that the loaded gun was not in her care for the entire duration of the filming because she was expected to perform two jobs on set as an armorer and a props assistant.
Bowels said that after lunch, Gutierrez Reed handed the gun she had loaded earlier to Halls and then went about performing her other duties as a props assistant.
As she handed over the Colt, the lawyer said Gutierrez Reed spun the chamber to show Halls the rounds inside.
“She did spin the cylinder for him. She did show him each and every round in that chamber, which there were six. The problem is, when you look at a dummy round and you look at their appearance, they have the same projectile tip; some of these do not have a hole in the side. They mimic and look like a real round”.
Gutierrez Reed
The armorer’s legal team admitted that she did not inspect the gun to ascertain that the rounds inside the chamber were not live ammunition. rust rust rust
Gutierrez Reed’s other attorney, Robert Gorence, explained that Gutierrez Reed was not inside the church set at the time of the shooting because it took place while cameras were being set up, and not during filming,
The armorer’s attorneys said they are cooperating with the investigation, and are hoping that the FBI would be able to determine who had planted the live round.
Meanwhile, ‘Rust’ camera assistant Lane Luper, who quit on the eve of the shooting, told ‘Good Morning America’ that there were only two safety meetings on set and said production “did not take gun safety seriously”.
Luper claimed the crew were overworked and exhausted from commuting to and from the set, and he also cited poor gun safety, which he said resulted in two accidental weapon discharges and one accidental sound-effects explosion.
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