Alec Baldwin has repeatedly proclaimed himself completely innocent in the shooting death of Halyna Hutchins. He’ll now get a chance to make that argument in court. Santa Fe district attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies announced within the hour that both Baldwin and Rust armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed will face involuntary manslaughter charges that would put them in prison for five years — at a minimum:

The actor Alec Baldwin will be charged with involuntary manslaughter for handling the gun that discharged on the set of “Rust,” killing its cinematographer, as will the movie’s armorer, who loaded the gun, prosecutors in New Mexico announced on Thursday. …

He has long denied culpability, noting that he had been told the weapon he was rehearsing with on the set did not contain live ammunition. “Someone is ​responsible for what happened, and I can’t say who that is, but I know it’s not me,” Mr. Baldwin said in a television interview last year.

The film’s armorer, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, who was responsible for the guns on set, was also charged with involuntary manslaughter. The film’s first assistant director, Dave Halls, who handed Mr. Baldwin the gun that went off, agreed to plead guilty to negligent use of a deadly weapon.

Mr. Baldwin, both a producer and a lead actor in “Rust,” was holding the gun that killed the cinematographer, Halyna Hutchins, and wounded the director, Joel Souza.

Carmack-Altwies had appointed a special prosecutor to handle the high-profile case. Andrea Reeb declared that a “pattern of criminal disregard for safety” led up to the shooting death of Hutchins as well as the wounding of Souza, and no one in charge ever took steps to prevent it from reaching lethality until the homicide occurred:

“After a thorough review of the evidence and the laws of the state of New Mexico, I have determined that there is sufficient evidence to file criminal charges against Alec Baldwin and other members of the ‘Rust’ film crew,” Carmack-Altwies said Thursday. “On my watch, no one is above the law, and everyone deserves justice.”

In charges set to be formally filed by the end of the month, Baldwin and Gutierrez-Reed will each be charged with two counts of involuntary manslaughter in Hutchins’ death.

“If any one of these three people—Alec Baldwin, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed or David Halls—had done their job, Halyna Hutchins would be alive today. It’s that simple,” stated Andrea Reeb, the special prosecutor assigned to the case. “The evidence clearly shows a pattern of criminal disregard for safety on the ‘Rust’ film set. In New Mexico, there is no room for film sets that don’t take our state’s commitment to gun safety and public safety seriously,” Reeb added.

Why two counts of involuntary manslaughter when only one person died? According to Dan Abrams on ABC’s live stream, prosecutors argue that the shooting fits multiple definitions of the statutory description of the charge. They want a jury to be able to consider either definition on both defendants. If convicted on either or both, the sentencing wouldn’t be impacted — it’s just a fairly common strategy for prosecutors, especially in complicated matters.

ABC does a longer review of the decision, including a likely fight between Baldwin and Gutierrez-Reed about who has the actual responsibility, and who’s the victim:

BREAKING: Alec Baldwin and armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed will each be charged with two counts of involuntary manslaughter for the 2021 fatal shooting on the New Mexico set of the film "Rust," officials say. @LinseyDavis has the latest. https://t.co/TugbcNzcgE pic.twitter.com/VmGiDlrbqn

— ABC News (@ABC) January 19, 2023

Both have filed lawsuits that likely won’t get much traction after this. In order to pursue those civil claims against others, Baldwin and Gutierrez-Reed will have to make themselves available for depositions. That’s the last thing either need while prosecutors ready themselves for a criminal trial that could put the defendants in prison for years to come.

Will it get that far? I don’t have the video of Abrams’ comments, but he raises a good point: this will first go to a judge for a preliminary hearing. That’s usually a pro forma step in most prosecutions, but we can expect Baldwin to fight the indictment especially hard right from the beginning. He has the financial resources for a full-court press, so expect some fireworks sooner rather than later in the hearing.

Stay tuned for legal developments to come. In the meantime, my friend Adam Baldwin (no relation!) and I will discuss how Hollywood uses firearms and why the Rust set was a time bomb in our upcoming VIP episode of The Amiable Skeptics, which will go up tomorrow. You’ll definitely want Adam’s point of view on this story.