LOS ANGELES (CNS) - Attorneys for the armorer on the set of the film "Rust" when a prop weapon held by Alec Baldwin accidentally discharged and killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins in 2021 filed court papers Monday asking that private information being sought by the actor during discovery be kept from the public.
Baldwin is fighting Hannah Gutierrez-Reed's motion to quash a service of a summons and cross-complaint he filed against her and other crew members on personal jurisdiction grounds. She maintains she has no significant ties to California that would allow a judge in the state to have personal jurisdiction over her.
In his cross-complaint filed in November, Baldwin, 64, alleges that crew members negligently put live ammunition in the gun that he was holding when it discharged during rehearsal, killing the 42-year-old Hutchins and wounding director Joel Souza, now 49. The cross-complaint stems from an underlying complaint by script supervisor Mamie Mitchell, who sued Baldwin and other crew members alleging she suffered emotional distress from being so close to the shooting.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Michael E. Whitaker said during a hearing on Feb. 8 that he was leaning toward granting Gutierrez-Reed's motion to quash, but he gave Baldwin's attorneys time to provide more briefing and set another hearing for Wednesday.
In their court papers brought Monday, Gutierrez-Reed's attorneys maintain that in conducting their additional discovery, Baldwin's lawyers have sought Gutierrez-Reed's private communications with friends, private residential addresses and private work-related information.
Gutierrez-Reed's lawyers want Whitaker to grant a protective order to prevent the disclosure of her private information.
"There is also a lot of media interest in this case," Gutierrez-Reed attorney Dane P. Joseph states in a sworn declaration in support of the motion for a protective order.
Since the information sought by Baldwin is subject to a constitutional right to privacy, the judge should limit the disclosure of information exchanged to the parties in the parties in the case, Gutierrez-Reed's lawyers argue in their court papers.
Baldwin and the 25-year-old Gutierrez-Reed were both originally charged with involuntary manslaughter in Hutchins' death, but charges were dropped against the actor last week.
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