On Thursday, we noted that actor Alec Baldwin had settled the wrongful death lawsuit with the family of Halyna Hutchins. Without a doubt, that removes a lot of stress from the former 30 Rock star.

However, it’s far from the only legal problem he’s dealing with.

As noted on Thursday, there are also the potential criminal charges Baldwin faces. It seems the prosecutor in the case isn’t moved by the lawsuit’s settlement.

New Mexico First Judicial District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies made clear the settlement will not deter her from completing her criminal investigation.

“The proposed settlement announced today in Matthew Hutchins’ wrongful death case against Rust movie producers, including Alec Baldwin, in the death of Halyna Hutchins will have no impact on District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altweis’ ongoing investigation or her ultimate decision whether to file criminal charges in the case,” a spokesperson for the DA said in a statement.

“While civil suits are settled privately and often involve financial awards, criminal cases deal only in facts. If the facts and evidence warrant criminal charges under New Mexico law then charges will be brought,” the statement continued.

“No one is above the law,” the statement declared.

We’ve also noted that Carmack-Altwies has previously noted that charges could be pending against Baldwin. It seems likely that we’ll see an indictment in the not-too-distant future, based on her comments.

From a strategic point of view, settling the lawsuit was smart in that it allowed Baldwin to focus his resources on defending himself from the criminal case he’s likely to find himself embroiled in.

However, let’s also be blunt for a second. (Yeah, I know. Me? Blunt? NEVER!)

Based on what we’ve seen, Baldwin needs to be prosecuted. He shouldn’t get to just pay a bit of money, give up some residuals on a project, then go right back to being the insufferable jackwagon he’s always been. Not after his own apparent negligence got two people shot, killing one of them.

The FBI has said that the gun didn’t just go off, as Baldwin has claimed. It’s never been disputed that the gun was in his hand when it discharged. That means he is the reason it fired. It can’t mean anything else.

And because of that, a woman is dead. When you’re careless actions result in a fatality, that’s manslaughter.

Neither you nor I would get a pass on something like that and we all know it. Why would we?

As a result, Baldwin shouldn’t either. My hope is that Carmack-Altwies is just getting her ducks in a row before dropping the hammer on the actor.

Yes, I’ll acknowledge that I don’t particularly care for Baldwin. While he’s a great actor and I’ve enjoyed his work, it’s always been his politics that turns me off, particularly when he opines on gun issues. That does make me a bit biased.

However, that doesn’t change the facts on the ground here. These are publicized and well-known.

And it means Baldwin’s legal woes are far from over.