It’s been two months since the fatal shooting of Rust cinematographer Halyna Hutchins by Alec Baldwin on the New Mexico movie. In a newly revealed search warrant by the Santa Fe Police Department, police want to look at Baldwin’s iPhone for more information.
“Affiant is requesting a warrant for the seizure and search of Alec Baldwins’ cell phone to search for any evidence relating to the death investigation of Halyna Hutchins,” said Sheriff’s Office Det. Alexandria Hancock in a search warrant approved by a judge this week.
“Affiant believes there may be evidence on the phone, due to individuals using cellular phones during and/or after the commission of crime(s),” the affidavit goes on to say. “Such information, if it exists, may be material and relevant to this investigation. Affiant was also made aware there were several emails and text messages sent and received regarding the movie production Rust in the course of interviews
Deadline reports that Baldwin’s lawyers have refused to hand the phone over without a warrant.
Baldwin’s attorneys say that they wanted a formal warrant for their client’s phone to protect his privacy.
“We are confident that the evidence will show that Mr. Baldwin is not responsible civilly or criminally for what occurred on October 21, and he continues to cooperate with authorities,” Aaron Dyer said Thursday after the warrant for Baldwin’s phone was approved.
“We proactively requested that the authorities obtain a warrant so that we could take steps to protect Mr. Baldwin’s family and personal information that is clearly unrelated to the investigation,” the Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP lawyer added. “A phone contains a person’s entire life, and personal information needs to be protected. While they evaluate the phone information, we hope that the authorities continue to focus on how the live rounds got on the set in the first place.”
