This archive report was first published on 14 January 2022.
On Friday morning, actor Alec Baldwin voluntarily turned over his phone to the police in Suffolk County, New York, as part of the ongoing investigation into the fatal shooting on the set of the film 'Rust' in New Mexico last year.
According to a search agreement provided by Baldwin's lawyer, Aaron Dyer, the phone's data will be reviewed by officials from the Suffolk County police department and district attorney's office before the relevant data is passed to the authorities in New Mexico.
The search agreement, which was obtained by the New York Times, states that officials in Suffolk County will review the phone's communications between June 1 and December 5 last year, excluding any communications with Baldwin's lawyers or his wife, Hilaria, which are protected by privilege.
“Mr. Baldwin has a right to privacy regarding the contents of the iPhone, as well as regarding communications with his attorneys and with his spouse, which communications are protected by the attorney-client privilege and the marital communications privilege respectively,” the agreement states.
On October 21, 2021, a fatal shooting occurred on the set of 'Rust' while Baldwin was practicing drawing an old-fashioned revolver from a shoulder holster. He had been told that the gun did not contain any live rounds, but it did, and it discharged a bullet that killed the cinematographer, Halyna Hutchins, and wounded the movie's director, Joel Souza.
Investigators looking into the shooting secured a search warrant for Baldwin's phone on December 16, 2021. The agreement to turn over Baldwin's phone states that the search warrant is not enforceable in New York, where he lives, and that without Baldwin's consent to search the phone, the authorities would be required to seek a separate warrant in the state.
“Alec voluntarily provided his phone to the authorities this morning so they can finish their investigation,” Mr. Dyer said in a statement. “But this matter isn’t about his phone, and there are no answers on his phone. Alec did nothing wrong.”
