A judge says he is inclined to drop the armorer for the film "Rust" as a defendant in a lawsuit filed by the movie's chief lighting technician on jurisdictional grounds.
In a tentative ruling Tuesday, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Maurice A. Leiter agreed with attorneys for Hannah Gutierrez-Reed that plaintiff Serge Svetnoy has not demonstrated proof that their client had sufficient contacts that would allow a California court to have general or specific jurisdiction over her.
Svetnoy's suit also names multiple other defendants, including the 65- year-old Alec Baldwin, stemming from the fatal Oct. 21, 2021, on-set shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins with a bullet fired by the actor/producer from a prop weapon.
"There is no evidence that (Svetnoy's ) claims arise from (Gutierrez- Reed's) contacts with California, or from any actions by this defendant in California or directed at California," according to Leiter, who is scheduled to hear arguments later Wednesday before issuing a final ruling.
In their court papers urging that she be dismissed from Svetnoy's suit, Gutierrez-Reed's attorneys stated that she occasionally used a friend's California address as a mailing address, but did not live there, and that she worked a total of nine days in California in 2016 and 2018.
Svetnoy maintains in the suit brought in November 2021 that the shooting "was caused by the negligent acts and omissions" of the multiple defendants. Svetnoy says he felt the bullet whiz by him and that gunpowder and other residual materials struck the right side of his face.
Svetnoy was among the first "Rust" crew members to publicly speak out about the shooting of the 42-year-old Hutchins while Baldwin was helping to prepare camera angles on the film's set near Santa Fe. The weapon, which was supposed to contain only blank rounds, discharged a lead bullet that struck Hutchins in the chest and lodged in the shoulder of director Joel Souza, now 50.
Svetnoy wrote on social media days later that he witnessed the shooting and comforted the bleeding Hutchins until paramedics arrived. He immediately deemed the shooting an act of negligence, saying Gutierrez Reed and assistant director David Halls both failed to check the weapon before declaring it safe and passing it to Baldwin.
Gutierrez-Reed pleaded not guilty in New Mexico earlier this month to charges of involuntary manslaughter and evidence tampering in Hutchins' death.
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