The family of "Rust" cinematographer Halyna Hutchins is demanding that the Santa Fe Sheriff's Office remove video it released showing her final moments after being shot on the set of the Western film.
Hutchins was killed and director Joel Souza was injured last October when a gun that actor Alec Baldwin had been handling during a rehearsal scene went off. On Monday the sheriff's office released several files including photos, recordings, and reports from its investigation into the shooting. Among those was bodycam footage showing paramedics attempting to save the 42-year-old woman.
Releasing the video violated the constitutional rights of Hutchins’ husband, Matthew, and their young son, said their lawyer, Brian Panish, who called on Sheriff Adan Mendoza to retract it, the Los Angeles Times reported.
"The first time Mr. Hutchins saw the disturbing and unsettling video footage of his dying wife lying on the church floor was on Radar Online, an internet website," Panish said in a letter sent to Mendoza on Wednesday, according to the Times.
"The potential consequences are disturbing given how information is misused on social media. We fear, for example, that this shocking footage of Andros’ [Matthew's son] mother dying may be material used by bullies to emotionally abuse him in the future," the lawyer wrote, the Times reported.
"Your office trampled on the constitutional rights of the Hutchins family," he continued via the Times. "The damage your office has done is irreparable."
Panish added that taking down the video footage "will end your office’s complicity in causing further harm," the Times reported.
On Tuesday the sheriff's office said the release of the material was in compliance with state laws, which require it to make public records available.
In a separate statement, Mendoza said the investigation into the incident by his agency remains open pending FBI firearm and ballistic analysis as well as DNA and latent fingerprint analysis. Baldwin’s attorney, Luke Nikas of Quinn Emanuel, told the New York Post that the release of the records proves the actor’s innocence.
"Mr. Baldwin welcomes this investigation. The information that has been revealed by the authorities demonstrates, once again, that Mr. Baldwin acted responsibly and did not have control over any production issues that were identified in the OSHA report," Nikas said.
Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.