Lawsuits naming Alec Baldwin are ‘a virtual certainty,’ legal experts told the Daily Mail.
However, any potential criminal charges would likely focus on whoever prepared the prop gun the actor fired, accidentally taking the life of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.
Attorney Jamie White, who has experience in both civil prosecutions and criminal defense, said: “If Baldwin or another person was negligent, a civil suit is almost a no-brainer at this point — a very high likelihood.”
“But the criminal side is going to be very fact-sensitive. Only if someone was recklessly negligent would there be criminal consequences,” attorney White added.
“It is not likely that it was Baldwin’s job to prepare props.”
The actor said that the incident was a ‘tragic accident’ as police investigated the case.
A spokesperson for Baldwin said the prop gun with blanks ‘misfired.’
“As the facts have thus far been presented, Baldwin will not be charged with an intentional act of violence,” White said.
“However, it is not unheard of to be charged with significant negligence.
“There are a lot more facts that need to be developed, but studios take extensive cautions in light of Brandon Lee’s death in 1993,” he added, referring to the actor killed by a squib load on ‘The Crow’ set.
Los Angeles injury attorney Miguel Custodio said that “liability certainly points to Rust Movie Productions and the prop manager.”
He also noted that any lawsuit is likely to blame the actor because of his role as the movie producer and also as an actor.
“As the actor, Alec Baldwin has little liability because you’re given something and you’re trusting the prop manager to have checked everything out,” Custodio said.
“Baldwin the producer may bear more responsibility, depending on if he is just an investor or has a more active role in the making of the film, which I suspect he does.
“Overall, this is horrible negligence and Ms. Hutchins’ survivors should go after everyone they can,” he continued. “It’s likely they’ll go after Baldwin the actor, Baldwin the producer, the film company and the prop manager.”
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