Sandy MaloneBy Sandy Malone and Holly Matkin
Santa Fe, NM – A New Mexico judge signed a search warrant for Alec Baldwin’s cell phone on Thursday in connection with the ongoing investigation into the actor’s accidental fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of the movie “Rust.”
The affidavit filed by the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office to get the warrant from the judge on Dec. 16 said that investigators had asked the actor to turn over his phone but were told they should “acquire a warrant,” CNN reported.
Sheriff’s investigators believe there are key conversations on Baldwin’s cell phone that are related to what led to the death of Hutchins on the movie set in October, the New York Post reported.
The warrant said that investigators were seeking messages, call logs, digital photos, and videos on Baldwin’s phone.
Investigators also want to see any private messages sent via social media platforms with regard to production of the movie, CNN reported.
The warrant said authorities were trying to find deleted videos, photos and messages that had something to do with “Rust.”
Investigators have found conversations regarding the production on Hutchins’ phone dating back to July 14 and told the judge that “gathering information prior to the film start date of Rust is essential for a full investigation,” the New York Post reported.
The search warrant affidavit said Baldwin and the film’s armorer, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, exchanged emails about what type of gun to use in the scene, and “he said he requested a bigger gun.”
Baldwin ultimately chose a “period” Colt with a brown handle, the New York Post reported.
Gutierrez-Reed told investigators she checked the gun after Hutchins was shot, according to the affidavit.
“She checked the cartridge which would have been the one fired and said the first one she pulled out didn’t have ‘that’ (pointing to the projectile end of a bullet),” the search warrant read.
The affidavit said the other rounds in the chamber of the weapon were dummy rounds, the New York Post reported.
Gutierrez-Reed told police she “did not believe anyone on the film set would be that malicious” to bring live ammunition on to the movie set, according to the warrant.
Her attorney, Jason Bowles, told TMZ that “as time has gone on and our investigation continues to uncover suspicious and troubling facts pointing to sabotage, she wants this fully and completely investigated to uncover the full truth.”
Baldwin insisted during an interview with ABC News that he “didn’t pull the trigger” of the gun he was holding when it discharged and fatally shot Hutchins on the set of the “Rust” film in October.
“The trigger wasn’t pulled. I didn’t pull the trigger,” Baldwin said during the sit down. “I would never point a gun at anyone and pull the trigger at them. Never.”
The actor said he has “no idea” how the fatal incident occurred.
“Someone put a live bullet in a gun. A bullet that wasn’t even supposed to be on the property,” he told Stephanopoulos.
Baldwin, co-producer and star of the film, said his connection to the death of Hutchins, 42, and the wounding of director Joel Souza is the worst thing that’s ever happened to him.
“I think back and I think of what could I have done?” he said. “She was someone who was loved by everyone who worked with and liked by everyone who worked with and admired…I mean, even now, I find it hard to believe… It doesn’t seem real to me.”
Holly Matkin
