A Criminal Case Behind Him, Alec Baldwin Must Navigate ‘Rust’ Lawsuits

The unequivocal victory by Alec Baldwin’s legal team in a New Mexico courtroom on Friday has lifted the threat of criminal liability for the actor’s role in the fatal shooting of the cinematographer on the set of the movie “Rust.” But several lawsuits brought against him after the tragedy still loom.

Litigation was filed by “Rust” crew members and the family of Halyna Hutchins, the cinematographer who was killed when an old-fashioned revolver that Mr. Baldwin was positioning for a close-up discharged a live bullet that should not have been on the set.

The proceedings against Mr. Baldwin were held off somewhat by the involuntary manslaughter case, which fell apart in a stunning series of events on Friday. The lead special prosecutor called herself to the stand before the judge dismissed the case permanently, determining that the state had intentionally withheld evidence from Mr. Baldwin’s defense that could have helped him.

Mr. Baldwin walked out of the courtroom in tears. On Saturday morning, he made a post on Instagram expressing gratitude to his supporters, saying, “To all of you, you will never know how much I appreciate your kindness toward my family.”

Now that the criminal case is over, his legal team will be able to focus on the civil litigation against Mr. Baldwin, who was also a producer on “Rust.”

A lawsuit that Ms. Hutchins’s husband, Matthew Hutchins, filed several months after the fatal shooting in October 2021 accuses Mr. Baldwin of reckless conduct while handling the gun, and the production of cost-cutting measures that endangered the crew. The suit says that the production failed to follow industry-standard gun safety rules, rushed filming and allowed an inexperienced armorer to handle weapons.