Alec Baldwin’s phone to be turned over to police as part of Rust investigation

As the investigation into the environment and events on the set of Rust which led to the accidental shooting death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins continues, Santa Fe authorities have filed a search warrant for actor Alec Baldwin’s cell phone.

“Affiant is requesting a warrant for the seizure and search of Alec Baldwin’s cell phone to search for any evidence relating to the death investigation of Halyna Hutchins,” writes Sheriff’s Office Det. Alexandria Hancock in a search warrant approved by a judge today.

“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 continues. “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.”

“Affiant has not included every fact related to this investigation, but has included only those facts Affiant believes are necessary to establish probable cause, for the issuance of a search warrant for the above mentioned device,” Det. Hancock noted in her successful search warrant bid.

Initially, Baldwin’s lawyers used their knowledge of the law and did not hand over the actor’s phone without an explicit warrant for his privacy. Now, with the approved warrant, his lawyers express that Baldwin still intends on fully cooperating with investigators.

“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,” lawyer Aaron Dyer says.

“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 adds. “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.”