Overview
- Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Maurice Leiter, who ruled Friday, let negligence and intentional infliction of emotional distress claims and punitive damages proceed and set an Oct. 12 trial date.
- The judge dismissed an assault claim but wrote that a jury could find Baldwin recklessly caused emotional distress by pointing a gun with his finger on the trigger.
- Plaintiff Serge Svetnoy, the film’s gaffer, says the bullet narrowly missed him and that cost-cutting led to safety lapses, and he is suing Baldwin and Rust Movie Productions for emotional harm.
- The court rejected the production’s bid to send the dispute to workers’ compensation, finding the company failed to show it had employees covered by that system.
- The case advances despite Baldwin’s 2024 criminal case being tossed over withheld evidence, and the trial could shape how film sets assign safety duties when firearms are used.