What happens next for Alec Baldwin as he faces Rust charges

What happens next for Alec Baldwin? Actor has 10 days before involuntary manslaughter charges are filed then will appear in court remotely… but he WON’T be arrested and may never spend a single night in jail

• Charges will be filed before the end of the month in Santa Fe, New Mexico 
• Baldwin will then appear before a judge virtually for his first appearance
• He will not be taken into custody – and likely won’t be jailed unless he’s convicted
• Prosecutors have filed two involuntary manslaughter charges against him 
• Together, and representing a firearm enhancement, he faces a mandatory five-year prison sentence if found guilty  

Now that Alec Baldwin knows he will be charged with involuntary manslaughter, he and his attorneys have started compiling their defense. 

Baldwin says he’ll fight the charges vigorously, calling them a ‘miscarriage of justice’. 

Halyna Hutchins’ widower said he’ll support the prosecution. 

Here, DailyMail.com breaks down what’s next for Baldwin and armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed.

Charges will be filed with a court in Santa Fe

Today’s announcement informed the actor that the charges will be filed, but the paperwork has not yet been submitted with the court. 

The reason for the delay is to allow the special prosecutor and the Santa Fe DA to explain their decision in interviews with the press. 

If the charges had been filed immediately, they say they would have been unable to communicate their reasons for the decision. 

The charges are expected to be filed before the end of the month. 

Actor Alec Baldwin, 64, has vowed to fight the involuntary manslaughter charges that will be filed against him by the end of the month 

Baldwin will be issued with a summons – but he doesn’t have to go New Mexico to honor it 

Once charges have been filed with the court, he’ll be issued a summons but he does not have to answer it in person. 

Instead, he will be allowed to appear before a judge virtually for his first appearance. 

The DA confirmed today that she is not seeking an arrest for either Baldwin or Gutierrez-Reed. 

The hearing is the first step in long judicial process. 

A judge must then review the evidence that the prosecutors have compiled, and rule on whether or not the case can proceed to trial. 

That is known as a probable cause hearing. 

Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, the film set’s armorer, will also be charged with involuntary manslaughter

Trial 

If Baldwin pleads not guilty, which he is expected to, the case will move to trial. 

The charges against him are complex. He has been charged with two counts of involuntary manslaughter over a single crime. 

Mary Carmack-Altwies, the First Judicial District Attorney in New Mexico, is standing firm

The first charge relates to whether he and Gutierrez-Reed acted recklessly. 

‘When this goes in front of a jury, they could find they’re guilty on both the first part of the involuntary is that they acted without due caution meaning they weren’t just negligent, but they were on notice, they had duties, they should have done something, they should have checked the bullets they should have checked the gun they shouldn’t have been been using that gun.

‘There was complacency, lack of care on that set. It’s more than negligence and it rises to recklessness. 

‘The other [component] is negligent use of a deadly weapon and that is someone handled used or touched a gun in a negligent manner. Once we show that, it can lead to the second theory of involuntary manslaughter,’ New Mexico First Judicial District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies said on CNN. 

She has since confirmed that Baldwin and Reed will face a mandatory five year sentence if convicted of the firearm enhancement. 

Appeal 

If convicted, Baldwin has the right to an appeal and it’s likely he would file one. 

Sentencing would likely be put on hold until them.  

Sentencing 

Baldwin faces a mandatory minimum of five years in prison of convicted of involuntary manslaughter with the firearm enhancement that prosecutors discussed today. 

The involuntary manslaughter charge also carries a $5,000 fine. 

Hutchins with her son and her husband Matthew

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