SANTA FE, N.M. — Alec Baldwin no longer faces the risk of prison in the accidental death of “Rust” cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, after a judge threw out his manslaughter case on Friday.
“There are too many people who have supported me to thank just now,” Baldwin said on Instagram on Saturday morning. “To all of you, you will never know how much I appreciate your kindness toward my family.”
Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer dismissed the case with prejudice, meaning it cannot be refiled, after a dramatic hearing about the prosecution’s failure to turn over evidence to the defense.
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But attorney Gloria Allred vowed to keep fighting Baldwin in civil court in New Mexico, saying the judge’s decision “is in no way, shape, or form an exoneration of him.”
Allred represents Hutchins’ parents, Olga Solovey and Anatolii Androsovych, and her sister, Svetlana Zemko, all of whom live in Ukraine.
At a press conference outside the Judge Steve Herrera Judicial Complex on Saturday morning, Allred said the judge’s decision is a “devastating blow” to the family.
“It does not change the fact that Alec Baldwin killed Halyna Hutchins on the set of ‘Rust,'” she said. “It does not change the fact that he fired a loaded gun while pointing it at a human being.”
Allred initially sued Baldwin and others in 2023 in Los Angeles. In February, a state court judge granted Baldwin’s demurrer on the grounds that Hutchins did not have a “sufficiently close relationship” with her parents and sister to assert damages for so-called “loss of consortium.”
At the time, Allred said she would amend the complaint and refile. But in June, her firm dropped the California lawsuit and filed a new one in Santa Fe. That suit remains in its earliest stages.
Allred said she looks forward to bringing the case to trial.
“We’re going to fight to the end for Halyna Hutchins,” she said, adding that “the parents had a very close relationship with Halyna, even though they were thousands of miles away.”
Matthew Hutchins, the cinematographer’s widower, reached a settlement with Baldwin and the “Rust” production in 2022. But in March, PvNew reported that the production had failed to make certain payments required by the settlement. His lawyers threatened to restart the litigation.
In a statement on Friday, attorney Brian Panish indicated that he anticipates taking the suit to trial.
“We look forward to presenting all the evidence to a jury and holding Mr. Baldwin accountable for his actions in the senseless death of Halyna Hutchins,” Panish said.
The “Rust” shooting has also resulted in a slew of other civil litigation, involving the production, crew members, and insurance companies. Most of it remains pending.
