Alec Baldwin will appear in court for the first time on February 24 on involuntary manslaughter

Alec Baldwin’s first court appearance on involuntary manslaughter is scheduled for February 24.

A court in New Mexico is scheduled for Wednesday Baldwin and film set weapons officer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed appear before Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer via videoconference.

His defense attorneys therefore have about three weeks to make a formal statement on the charges.

Prosecutors said in January that both Baldwin and Gutierrez-Reed would be charged in the fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of Rust — a film Baldwin both produced and starred in.

Baldwin has insisted the involuntary manslaughter charge does not apply because he was not negligent when Hutchins was accidentally shot. He has insisted that he did not pull the trigger on the revolver that fired the bullet and only pulled back the hammer.

Alec Baldwin is scheduled to appear in court on February 24 for involuntary manslaughter

Film set weapons officer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed (pictured) is also facing these charges

Baldwin and Gutierrez Reed each face two counts of involuntary manslaughter, but a jury will decide which of the two is more appropriate, New Mexico District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies said.

One of those two charges involves “firearms improvement” which would carry a sentence of up to five years in prison, while the other carries a sentence of 18 months.

A charge of manslaughter can be charged when a defendant has killed someone while doing something lawful but acting negligently or negligently.

In court documents filed Tuesday, prosecutors said reckless safety failures on the set were commonplace.

They said Baldwin did not take mandatory firearms training prior to filming and made the decision as a producer to work with Gutierrez-Reed, who was an uncertified and inexperienced gunsmith.

Prosecutors acknowledged that Gutierrez-Reed scheduled an hour-long follow-up session for Baldwin, but claimed they only completed 30 minutes of it.

“According to Reed, Baldwin was distracted and was talking to his family on his cellphone during practice,” prosecutors said.

A cause statement lists a series of safety deficiencies over a 10-day period, including other misfires on set and a camera crew strike over safety concerns.

It also described Baldwin putting his finger “in the trigger guard and on the trigger” on the day of the shooting and shortly before.

Baldwin shot and killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins (pictured) on the set of Rust in 2021

Rust’s set at Bonanza Creek Ranch in Santa Fe. Prosecutors say Baldwin did not complete mandatory firearms training

Pictured: The Baldwins leave their home on Tuesday ahead of prosecutors hearing the charges in the on-set death of Halyna Hutchins

Pictured: The entrance to Zero Bond’s private club in the NoHo neighborhood of New York City. Actor Alex Baldwin visited the club Tuesday night

“Baldwin’s deviation from known standards, practices and protocols directly caused the death of” Hutchins, said Robert Shilling, a special counsel for the Santa Fe Attorney’s Office, in the probable cause statement.

Baldwin’s attorney Luke Nikas declined to comment Tuesday, citing an earlier statement in which he described the charges as a “horrific miscarriage of justice” that he and his client would fight and win.

‘Mister. Baldwin had no reason to believe there was a live bullet in the gun — or anywhere on the film set,” the statement said. “He relied on the professionals he worked with.”

Hours after Baldwin was formally charged, he was spotted with his wife, Hilaria, at a private club in New York City.

The two were spotted at Zero Bond, a twenty-thousand-square-foot private members’ club, where they spent about 30 to 40 minutes in a poker area in the back, someone told PEOPLE magazine.

Carmack-Altwies told the Associated Press that the set “moved really pretty fast and loose” and Baldwin should have known there had been previous misfires and that people had raised safety concerns.

Prosecutors will forgo a grand jury and rely on a judge to determine if there is enough evidence to proceed to a trial. That decision could take up to 60 days and include lane-like hearings to consider testimonies and evidence.

Baldwin and Gutierrez-Reed appear before Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer via video conference (pictured)

A long list of witnesses was presented to the court, including the wounded Rust director Souza, weapons assistant Sarah Zachry and the film’s ammunition supplier, as well as FBI analysts, police detectives, and sheriff’s deputies who originally responded to the shooting.

The probable cause affidavit is divided into two sections. One notes Baldwin’s actions as the lead actor and another notes his role as the film’s main producer.

On the one hand, prosecutors say he flipped the gun as an actor, on the other hand they say that as a producer, he was responsible for overseeing a secure set.

By treating these roles separately, they can fall back on one if the other is successfully defended in court.

Baldwin said he was told the .45 caliber revolver was safe. He has already tried to clear his name by suing people involved in handling and delivering the weapon.

Baldwin said in his own lawsuit that while he was working on camera angles with Hutchins, he pointed the gun in their direction and drew back and released the hammer, after which he fired.

Defense attorney Jason Bowles, representing Gutierrez-Reed, said the charges were the result of “flawed investigation” and an “improper understanding of the full facts.”