New Mexico law enforcement officials have sought help from New York authorities to recover Alec Baldwin’s cell phone in the investigation into the “Rovell” shooting more than three weeks after detectives called for a search of the phone.
Santa Fe County Judge David Segura authorized a search warrant on Dec. 16 that allowed law enforcement to search for Baldwin’s iPhone in search of evidence that could be valuable to him. his investigation into the deadly shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on October 21 on the set of the film. economic west movie “Rust”.
But so far this has not happened, officials said this week.
“The sheriff’s office has no physical possession of the phone,” Santa Fe County Sheriff’s spokesman Juan Rios said Friday afternoon. “The phone is in New York with Mr. Baldwin.”
Baldwin has a home in the Hamptons, Suffolk County, New York.
First Judicial Distance of New Mexico Atty. Mary Carmack-Altwies, the top Santa Fe County law enforcement officer overseeing the case, said in a statement Thursday that her office and the sheriff’s investigators “are actively working with Suffolk County, the New York Sheriff’s Department and Mr. Baldwin’s attorneys, within the jurisdiction.Restrictions, to obtain any material from Mr. Baldwin’s telephone related to the Rust investigation.
According to local lawyers, the search warrant issued by Segura could only be executed in New Mexico.
Law enforcement has been scrutinizing the actions of Baldwin, an actor and producer who fired the gun during a rehearsal, as well as assistant director David Halls, who was in charge of security on set, and the 24-year-old actor in production. gunsmith, Hannah Gutierrez Reed, responsible for weapons, ammunition and weapons security.
Baldwin’s representatives were not immediately available for comment Friday.
It’s unclear why the veteran actor and star of “Rust” has not voluntarily donated his phone. Prior to the investigation, Santa Fe County Sheriff’s investigators recovered cell phones belonging to Gutierrez Reed and Halls. Both individuals voluntarily handed over their phones to the sheriff’s investigators without a search warrant, according to their respective lawyers.
Baldwin told ABC News presenter George Stephanopoulos that he aimed the vintage Colt .45 replica at Hutchins because they were rehearsing a scene that Hutchins and director Joel Souza were scheduled to film later that afternoon. Baldwin said he did not pull the trigger and did not expect to be charged. A bullet from the pistol fatally struck Hutchins and landed on Souza’s shoulder. He was treated and discharged from a Santa Fe hospital.
Carmack-Altwies is expected to decide whether to file charges against Baldwin or crew members in the coming months.
In the December 16 eight-page affidavit in support of the search warrant, the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office. Alexandria Hancock said she was interested in reviewing text messages, emails, contacts, browser history, private messages on Baldwin’s social media, as well as her recent call list. Researchers also requested access to digital images, deleted digital images, passwords, and any data from the phone’s Global Positioning System (GPS).
In the affidavit of the search warrant, Hancock wrote that he had “requested Alec’s phone number, as well as his lawyer’s, and was asked to acquire an order.”
The detective wrote that there were “several emails and text messages sent and received” about the production he wanted to inspect. Hancock noted that any information obtained that was not related to the “Rovell” shooting investigation would be “sealed and subsequently destroyed.”
