Alec Baldwin to face civil trial in October during 2021 Rust shooting that killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, after a Los Angeles judge ruled the case should continue.
The suit was filed by Serge Svetnoy, an electrician on the New Mexico set, who claims he suffered emotional distress caused by negligence.
Svetnoy was not physically injured in the shooting, but claimed to have felt the effects of the explosion and heard the gunshot at close range.
In a summary judgment confirmed by PEOPLELos Angeles Superior Court Judge Maurice Leiter allowed the trial to proceed, with Svetnoy’s lawyer arguing simply: “Mr. Baldwin is the last line of defense. Guns generally don’t shoot each other.”
The incident took place on October 21, 2021, when a prop gun held by Baldwin, 68, who was both the lead actor and producer of the film, fired a live round on set in New Mexico, killing Hutchins and injuring director Joel Souza.
The civil case adds another legal chapter to what has already been a long and painful process for Baldwin.
In January 2023, he and the film’s gunsmith Hannah Gutierrez-Reed were both charged with two counts of manslaughter.
Charges against Baldwin were dropped in April 2024, then reinstated following a new grand jury investigation in January 2024 that reportedly found evidence that he pulled the trigger.
His legal team sought to have those charges dismissed before the July 2024 trial began, but that attempt was initially rejected.
However, just days after the trial began, the judge dismissed the case with bias, citing late discovery of evidence that had “undermined the fundamental fairness of the proceedings.”
The results of recent years have been considerable.
Baldwin publicly stated that the ordeal took “10 years off my life.” Rust, dedicated to Hutchins and featuring Bianca Cline as replacement cinematographer, was finally released in May 2025.
