Sheriff: Baldwin turned over cellphone in New York
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Jan. 14—The Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office confirmed Friday actor and co-producer Alec Baldwin's cellphone had been turned over to authorities in New York.
Investigators with the sheriff's office had issued a search warrant for the phone's contents in December, but ran into jurisdictional issues when it came to obtaining information on the device.
Data from the cellphone was sought in an investigation into the Oct. 21 fatal shooting on the Rust film set at Bonanza Creek Ranch near Santa Fe. Authorities have said Baldwin's prop revolver discharged a live round during a rehearsal, killing cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and wounding director Joel Souza.
Friday afternoon, the phone was turned over to Suffolk County law enforcement in New York, who will gather the information from the phone and share it with Santa Fe County investigators, sheriff's office spokesman Juan Ríos said.
"The Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office does not yet have physical possession of the data," Ríos said in a statement. "This is in process."
A spokeswoman for the District Attorney's Office said the jurisdiction issue stemmed from the location of the phone.
"The jurisdictional concern was that the phone was not in New Mexico and we needed to work with New York officials to execute the warrant," she wrote in an email Friday.
Baldwin's lawyer, Aaron Dyer, said his client had been cooperating with authorities throughout the course of the investigation, and the delay in receiving information from the phone was no indication otherwise.
"Alec voluntarily provided his phone to the authorities this morning so they can finish their investigation," Dyer said in a statement. "But this matter isn't about his phone, and there are no answers on his phone."
He added, "Alec did nothing wrong. It is clear that he was told it was a cold gun, and was following instructions when this tragic accident occurred. The real question that needs to be answered is how live rounds got on the set in the first place."
