As we reported, the prosecutors finally decided on whether to charge people in the 2021 shooting on the “Rust” movie set. Halyna Hutchins, the cinematographer, was killed, and Joel Souza, the director, was also wounded when actor Alec Baldwin fired a gun at them.

New Mexico’s First Judicial District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies announced that Baldwin will be charged with two counts of involuntary manslaughter. The armorer (the person in charge of the guns) Hannah Gutierrez-Reed will also be charged with two counts of involuntary manslaughter.

One of the involuntary manslaughter counts is one in which prosecutors will have to prove there is underlying negligence, prosecutors said. This is a fourth-degree felony that carries a sentence of up to 18 months in jail and a $5,000 fine.

The second involuntary manslaughter charge is one for the commission of a lawful act, a more severe charge which requires proof that there was more than simple negligence involved in a death, prosecutors said. This charge includes a firearm enhancement, which adds a mandatory penalty of five years in jail.

The two are being charged “in the alternative” — which means that the judge or the jury will decide between the two charges, depending on whether it’s a bench trial (just with a judge) or a jury trial.

The assistant director, David Halls, pled guilty to negligent use of a deadly weapon. The terms of the deal include a suspended sentence and six months probation.

I sat down with the prosecutors handling the Baldwin "Rust" shooting case to discuss the latest. The interview, here: pic.twitter.com/Bkh8vjY7SY

— Jeanine Pirro (@JudgeJeanine) January 20, 2023

One of the things that the FBI analysis found was that there were five live rounds found on the set — including a live round in the gun belt/holster used by Baldwin.

Two loose.45 rounds were collected from the top of a prop cart. A third was in a bandolier worn by one of the performers, and a fourth was found in a brown holster. The report didn’t indicate which belt belonged to which actor, but a source close to the production told Vanity Fair the bandolier belonged to the character played by Supernatural actor Jensen Ackles, and the holster was Baldwin’s. (Through a representative, Ackles declined to comment.)

That raises more questions about why Baldwin would have had a live bullet.

During an interview with Judge Jeanine Pirro on Fox, Carmack-Altwies said that Baldwin had a base obligation never to point the gun at a person and pull the trigger. But she said he also had a duty as a producer on the set to check the bullets, to make sure that they weren’t live. She said he also had a duty to make sure that the set was safe, but that there were multiple accounts of safety issues. She explained the charges and how the jury or the judge would determine which charge would apply.

The special prosecutor who had been assisting in the case, Andrea Reeb, was asked about Baldwin’s repeated claim to the media that he had not pulled the trigger. Reeb explained that they “definitely believe he pulled the trigger” and they have evidence to support that, “The FBI lab report confirms that.” Reeb confirmed that there were safety issues on the set including a “couple of accidental discharges.” There were a lot of safety concerns that were brought to the attention of management and he did nothing about it, Reeb said. “Safety was compromised just to save money,” she said.

Carmack-Altwies said that Halls would be required to testify against Baldwin and Gutierrez-Reed and that they felt he was less culpable in the matter which was why they made a deal with him.

Judge Jeanine asked about reports that Baldwin may have tampered with evidence — deleting things from his phone — that may have had bearing on the case. Carmack-Altwies said that there were “some things missing” but they’re continuing to investigate whether that was “intentional” on the part of Baldwin. That could raise the possibility of other potential charges if Baldwin was tampering with evidence. Carmack-Altwies did confirm that there was a text message to an assistant to delete an archive.

Carmack-Altwies responded to Baldwin’s attorneys saying that charging him was a “miscarriage of justice.” The miscarriage of justice would be not holding anyone to account for Halyna Hutchins death, she said. “No one is above the law, everyone is equal before the law.”