Police Issue Search Warrant for Alec Baldwin’s iPhone for Further Investigation into ‘Rust” Shooting

Iesha December 17, 2021 News, Uncategorized Leave a comment

As part of their investigation into the fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of his movie “Rust,” police issued a search warrant for Alec Baldwin’s iPhone on Thursday.

The Santa Fe sheriff’s department has obtained a search warrant authorizing police to access Baldwin’s iPhone and cloud for evidence related to Hutchins’s death.

According to Deadline, the search warrant said “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.”

“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 said.

Police can also download Baldwin’s images, social media accounts, private messages, and deleted files such as images, messages, and browser history through the search warrant.

“Such information, if it exists, may be material and relevant to this investigation,” the search warrant said. “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.”

It was reported in the search warrant that Baldwin exchanged emails with Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, the film’s armorer, in order to decide what style of gun to use.

“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,” it added.

Baldwin fired the gun while holding a suspected live round while the Academy Award-winning star was working on a scene for the Western film in October, killing Hutchins and critically wounding Souza, authorities tell NBC.

After receiving an antique pistol and being told it was cold and not loaded, Baldwin allegedly shot Hutchins and Souza.

“I feel that someone is responsible for what happened, and I can’t say who that is, but I know it’s not me,” the actor told George Stephanopoulos in December in his first TV interview since the October shooting.

So far, the Sheriff’s Office has obtained five warrants related to the Rust death investigation. In order to protect Baldwin’s privacy, his attorneys sought a formal search warrant for his phone.

“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.”