Actor Alec Baldwin is due in court in New Mexico next week on new charges related to the 2021 fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of the independent film “Rust.”

Mr. Baldwin faces two charges of involuntary manslaughter for the shooting, one alleging “total disregard or indifference for the safety of others” and the second alleging negligent use of a firearm. He is also alleged to have engaged in criminal disregard for safety in his role as a producer of the film.

If convicted of the former count, Mr. Baldwin could face up to 18 months in prison and a $5,000 fine. If convicted of the second count, Mr. Baldwin could face up to five years in prison.

Since the shooting, Mr. Baldwin has maintained that he did not pull the trigger. Yet an FBI investigation into the incident concluded that the gun “could not be made to fire without a pull of the trigger,” and recordings and photos from the set show Mr. Baldwin with his finger on the trigger. 

The investigation into the incident did, though, find that Mr. Baldwin was told that the gun was “cold,” meaning there was supposedly no live ammunition in the weapon.

Mr. Baldwin had previously faced charges for the killing of Hutchins; charges were then temporarily dropped “pending further investigation,” in the words of a special prosecutor working on the case, Kari Morrissey.

Ahead of Mr. Baldwin’s appearance in court on February 1, the Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, has come out in defense of Mr. Baldwin.

The union said in a statement that it is incorrect to file charges against Mr. Baldwin or others on the basis of “any actor having a duty to inspect a firearm as part of its use.”

“An actor’s job is not to be a firearms or weapons expert,” the union said in a statement. “Firearms are provided for use on set under the guidance of multiple expert professionals directly responsible for the safe and accurate operation of that firearm.”

Instead, the union notes, the “industry assigns that responsibility to qualified professionals who oversee their use and handling in every aspect.”

The armorer for the movie, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, also faces a charge of involuntary manslaughter, to which she pleaded not guilty. Her trial is also set to begin in February.

Initial charges filed against Mr. Baldwin at the beginning of last year were dropped after Mr. Baldwin’s lawyers pressured the special prosecutor who was first handling the case, Andrea Reeb, to step down because she was also serving in the state legislature. 

The district attorney who was then set to handle the case, Mary Carmack-Altwies, then recused herself in order to appoint new special prosecutors, Ms. Morrissey and Jason Lewis.

In April of that year, the new special prosecutors dropped the charges against Mr. Baldwin, saying that they could not continue under the trial’s initial schedule and with the case as it was left to them, saying in a statement, “This decision does not absolve Mr. Baldwin of criminal culpability and charges may be refiled.”

Ahead of the trial, it remains a mystery why there were live rounds on the set, which had banned live ammunition, and how live rounds had ended up in the gun.

Mr. Baldwin maintains that not only did he not pull the trigger on the gun, he also did not put live rounds in the weapon.

“Someone put a live bullet in a gun, a bullet that wasn’t even supposed to be on the property,” Mr. Baldwin told ABC News shortly after the shooting. “Someone is ​responsible for what happened, and I can’t say who that is, but I know it’s not me.”