Police Get Warrant to Search Alec Baldwin's Phone After Rust Movie Shooting

Police obtained a search warrant for Alec Baldwin's phone, to comb through his photos, history, contacts and text messages for "any evidence" relating to the death of Halyna Hutchins.

By Lindsay Weinberg Dec 17, 2021 1:16 AMTags

Police will soon know the contents of Alec Baldwin's phone.

A judge granted a warrant for New Mexico authorities to search the actor's phone following the fatal shooting on the set of his Rust movie, according to the Dec. 16 warrant obtained by E! News. Police are authorized to search his device, believed by an iPhone with a Verizon plan, and seize contacts, photos, browser history and more personal information. 

The goal is to find "for any evidence relating to the death investigation of Halyna Hutchins," the film's cinematographer who died in October after a gun that Baldwin was holding went off on set. The incident also injured director Joel Souza.

Authorities believe Baldwin's phone may have "relevant" material to their investigation. "Affiant was also made aware there were several emails and text messages sent and received regarding the movie production Rust in the court of interviews," per the warrant.

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Items to be seized include a forensic download of the cell phone, including photos, emails, social media accounts, digital movies, deleted videos, evidence of multiple or deleted social accounts, browser history, all text messages, passwords, cloud drives and more. It also includes all contacts (names, numbers and addresses), recent call list, audio recordings and GPS data.

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The warrant seeks all information on the phone that's related to the Rust production and any person working on the production. No information will be collected that's "unrelated" to the objective of the investigation, per the warrant.

The warrant also included details of the police investigation, including an interview with Baldwin from Oct. 21. "Alec advised in the scene he slowly takes the gun out of the holster, then very dramatically turns it and cocks the hammer, which is when the gun goes off," the document states. 

It continues, "He said it was supposed to be a ‘cold gun' so no flash charge or anything should have gone off. Alec said all the rounds in the gun were supposed to be cosmetic or ‘dummy' rounds. Alec advised when the gun went off, he could recall Halyna (Hutchins) going down to the grown, and Joel (Souza) start to scream."

During a recent interview with ABC News, Baldwin said the "trigger wasn't pulled" on the gun. "Someone is ​responsible for what happened, and I can't say who that is, but I know it's not me," he said.

Baldwin said he had "no idea" how a live round allegedly got onto the set. "Someone put a live bullet in a gun," he alleged. "A bullet that wasn't even supposed to be on the property."