Alec Baldwin has surrendered his mobile phone to investigators who are looking into the fatal shooting on his film set, his attorney has said.
A search warrant for the actor’s iPhone was issued in December, but the Santa Fe County sheriff’s office had said earlier this week it was still trying to obtain the device.
The Hollywood actor was rehearsing a scene in Rust and holding a prop gun when it went off, firing live rounds that killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and injured director Joel Souza.
On Friday, sheriff’s department spokesperson Juan Rios said via email that Baldwin’s phone had been turned over to authorities in Suffolk County, New York, who were in the process of downloading relevant data to send to New Mexico investigators.
According to court documents, investigators will examine text messages, emails, social network communications, browser activity, and other information stored on the device.
Aaron Dyer, an attorney for Baldwin, confirmed the actor had provided his phone to authorities on Friday.
“But this matter isn’t about his phone, and there are no answers on his phone. Alec did nothing wrong,” Dyer said in a statement.
Ukraine ‘99.9%’ sure Russia behind massive cyber attack targeting govt websites
Ukraine: Russia is preparing for ‘false-flag operation’ in country after massing troops at border, US warns
Novak Djokovic ‘back in detention’ as he awaits visa appeal hearing scheduled for Sunday
“The real question that needs to be answered is how live rounds got on the set in the first place,” he added.
Last week, Baldwin said any suggestion he was not complying with the search warrant for his phone was a “lie”.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
He added: “This is a process where one state makes the request of another state. Someone from another state can’t come to you and say, ‘Give me your phone, give me this, give me that’. They can’t do that. They’ve got to go through the state you live in.
“And it’s a process that takes time and they have to specify what exactly they want.
“They can’t just go through your phone and take your photos or your love letters to your wife or what have you, I really don’t know.
“But of course, we are 1,000% going to comply with all that, we’re perfectly fine with that.”
Baldwin has repeatedly said he did not know the gun contained a live round and he did not pull the trigger, saying investigators must find out who put it in the weapon.
Baldwin said he met with the film’s armourer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed for a gun training session before the shoot, and she appeared capable and responsible.
Ms Gutierrez-Reed has been the subject of much of the scrutiny in the case. Her attorney has said she did not put the round in the gun and believes she was the victim of sabotage.
Read more:
Alec Baldwin says ‘not a day goes by’ that he does not think about Halyna Hutchins’s death
Actor spotted at New York event in first public appearance since fatal film set shooting