Alec Baldwin Turned Cellphone In to Suffolk Police

UPDATE: The New York Times reported at 2:35 p.m. on Friday, January 14 that Baldwin turned his iPhone in to Suffolk County Police on Friday morning and gave them the password to access its contents.

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A lawyer for Amagansett resident Alec Baldwin on January 13 said the actor would hand over his cellphone “this week” to authorize investigating his fatal shooting on October 21 of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the movie set of Western Rust, nearly a month after detectives secured a search warrant for the device, according to The New York Times. However, Reuters is reporting that police in New Mexico said they had yet to receive the device.

Baldwin’s lawyer, Aaron Dyer, said he had reached a deal with New Mexico authorities to turn in the phone after steps were taken to protect the actor’s privacy regarding matters unrelated to the Rust investigation.

“Mr. Baldwin’s phone is being turned over this week for review,” Dyer said in a statement. “Mr. Baldwin has continued to cooperate with the authorities, and any suggestion to the contrary is simply untrue.” Baldwin echoed this sentiment in an Instagram video, where he noted certain procedures must be followed, adding, “The only way we can honor the death of Halyna Hutchins is to find out the truth.”

The comments followed a January 13 news release from the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office saying Baldwin had not complied with a search warrant requesting he hand over the phone and that a New Mexico prosecutor was now working with the actor’s lawyer to get it.

“To date, the cell phone has not been turned over to authorities,” the news release said.

The Santa Fe detective leading the Rust investigation obtained the search warrant in December to examine text messages, emails and other information on Baldwin’s Apple iPhone.

The detective said she requested the warrant as suspects, victims and witnesses “often make and/or receive telephone calls and/or messages before, during and/or after the commission of crime(s).”

Baldwin has said he was holding a revolver on the film set when it went off during a rehearsal in October, firing a live round that killed Hutchins.

In a television interview, Baldwin said he never pulled the trigger and denied responsibility for the shooting.

Last week, in the same Instagram video, Baldwin suggested that he was concerned about his privacy, saying, “They can’t just go through your phone and take, you know, your photos or your love letters to your wife or what have you.”

Officials in Suffolk County, New York, said last week they were also involved in facilitating the phone’s transfer to the authorities.

The New Mexico prosecutor overseeing the case has said some people who handled guns on the set may face criminal charges in connection with Hutchins’ death.

With Reuters