Police in New Mexico say Alec Baldwin and his legal team still have not handed over the actor’s cellphone in connection with the “Rust” investigation after a warrant was issued last month.
The Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office issued a statement Thursday saying that Baldwin’s attorney acknowledged receipt of the warrant and added that on Dec. 20 following the issuing of the warrant, the Santa Fe District Attorney’s office was in negotiations with Baldwin’s attorney to obtain consent to retrieve the phone and its contents. However, New Mexico authorities say to date the phone still “has not been turned over.”
A rep for Baldwin and his attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
However, Baldwin earlier this month said reports that he was not cooperating by turning over his cellphone were “bulls—.”
“Any suggestion that I am not complying with requests, or orders, or demands, or search warrants about my phone, that’s bulls—t. That’s a lie,” Baldwin said in a video, filmed from the front seat of a car from Jan. 9. “This is a process…”
“They have to specify what exactly they want. 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,” Baldwin continued in his video. He added, “But of course, we are 1000% going to comply with all that. We are perfectly fine with that.”
Back in December, a judge from the magistrate court for New Mexico approved the request for a warrant such that investigators can look at any messages, photos or contacts pertaining to “Rust,” for which Baldwin served as one of the film’s producers.
Baldwin had also said in his interview with ABC News that he was told it was “highly unlikely” that the ongoing investigation into Halyna Hutchins’ death would lead to charges against him, but investigators still have not ruled anyone out from facing charges and the investigation remains ongoing.
Hutchins was killed on the set of “Rust” in New Mexico on Oct. 21 after a gun held by Baldwin and containing a live round fired, fatally wounding her and injuring the film’s director, Joel Souza. Baldwin had described in detail in his ABC News interview that he did not pull the trigger of the gun but that he “let go of the hammer of the gun, the gun goes off.”