A judge in Los Angeles has ruled that a civil lawsuit accusing Alec Baldwin of acting negligently in the deadly 2021 shooting on the set of his western film Rust can proceed to trial.
According to Variety, the superior court judge Maurice Leiter issued a summary judgment on Friday allowing the case to move forward. Leiter’s ruling – obtained by the outlet – said that “a reasonable jury could find that Mr Baldwin recklessly disregarded the probability that pointing a gun in the direction of someone, with the finger on the trigger, would cause emotional distress”.
The lawsuit in question was filed by Serge Svetnoy, a gaffer on the production, against the film’s producers, including Baldwin, who was also the lead actor. Svetnoy has alleged that he suffered emotional distress as a result of the shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, who was mortally wounded on the movie set in New Mexico in October 2021 when a prop gun held by Baldwin fired a live round of ammunition. The film’s director, Joel Souza, was also shot and injured.
The ruling on Friday comes after Baldwin’s involuntary manslaughter case was dismissed in 2024 after a New Mexico judge determined that state prosecutors had withheld evidence.
Despite that dismissal, Baldwin continues to face civil lawsuits tied to Hutchins’s death and Souza’s shooting.
Baldwin has consistently said that he was told that the gun was “cold” – meaning it contained no live ammunition. He has also contended that he did not pull the trigger.
Variety reported that Svetnoy’s case could be settled before trial, which is tentatively scheduled for 12 October.
Several other lawsuits related to the shooting have been settled. Hutchins’s family reached a settlement with the film’s producers, including Baldwin, in 2023. Three crew members settled with producers and Baldwin in 2025.
Meanwhile, the film’s armorer, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter in March 2024 and sentenced to the maximum penalty of 18 months in prison. She was released in May 2025.
