The producers of the movie “Rust” are responsible for security failures on the set where Alec Baldwin killed the cinematographer, a report from New Mexico authorities said on Wednesday.
On October 21, on a ranch in Santa Fe, the actor and producer was handling a revolver while he was working on a scene with Halyna Hutchins and the weapon he thought was harmless had gone off, fatally wounding the filmmaker.
The police have not yet initiated criminal charges but do not rule out doing so, including against Alec Baldwin.
The Department of the Environment of the State of New Mexico, in the southwest of the United States, conducted its own investigation into a civil file relating to the rules of hygiene and safety of the filming.
The producers of the movie “Rust” “showed a manifest disregard for the risks associated with firearms by systematically failing to enforce their own safety protocols,” their report says.
They did not do enough “to ensure that the management of lethal weapons was given the time and attention necessary to ensure the safety of the teams”, adds the text.
The State of New Mexico thus issued the producers with a civil fine of $136,793 and a report involving willful misconduct.
This is the highest possible fine under state law, the New Mexico Department of the Environment said in a statement.
The criminal investigation, unrelated to this decision, is still ongoing.
Halyna Hutchins’ family has filed suit against Alec Baldwin and the film’s producers, and other civil suits have been filed.
Alec Baldwin said he was told his gun contained no live ammunition, that victim Halyna Hutchins told him to aim in his direction, and that he did not pull the trigger when of the fatal gunshot.
“I have the feeling that someone is responsible for what happened, and I don’t know who it is. But it’s not me,” he said during from an interview last December.