Prosecutors file charges in prototype iPhone case
Steve Wagstaffe, the district attorney, said in an interview today that his office has filed misdemeanor theft charges against Brian Hogan, the man who allegedly found the prototype in a bar after it was left there by an Apple engineer. An arraignment has been scheduled for August 25.
The second man charged is Sage Robert Wallower, who allegedly contacted technology sites last year while shopping around the iPhone 4 prototype. Wallower, a former Navy cryptologic technician who was scheduled to graduate from UC Berkeley in 2010, told CNET last year in an in-person interview at his home: "I didn't see it or touch it in any manner. But I know who found it."
Neither Gizmodo nor its parent company, Gawker Media, has been charged with any crime, Wagstaffe said. Nor have any of Gawker Media's employees, including the editor whose home was raided by police armed with a search warrant.
Apple declined to comment this morning. Wallower did not respond to interview requests.
The investigation began early last year when Robert Gray Powell, a 28-year-old Apple computer engineer, left an unmarked prototype iPhone in a German beer garden in Redwood City, Calif. Hogan, who at the time was a 22-year old student, found the prototype and sold it to Gizmodo for $5,000.
For over a year, speculation had centered on Hogan as the target of criminal charges based on a state law involving lost or stolen property. Under a California law dating back to 1872, any person who finds lost property and knows who the owner is likely to be--but "appropriates such property to his own use"--is guilty of theft. In addition, a second state law says any person who knowingly receives property that has been obtained illegally can be imprisoned for up to one year.
Jeff Bornstein, Hogan's attorney, issued a statement today: "Brian Hogan, who has never been in trouble with the law...is extremely remorseful for not having done more to return the cell phone he found in a Redwood City bar...Although we do not believe that charges of any kind should have been filed, Brian fully accepts responsibility of his actions. We are working cooperatively with the district attorney.
Court Cases In San Mateo County - News
The lawsuit involves total of 92 cases and 323 plaintiffs, according to a joint case management conference statement filed in San Mateo County Superior Court. The plaintiffs are asking the court to adopt a litigation schedule and set a trial date,
Neither Brian Hogan, of Redwood City, nor Sage Wallower, of Emeryville, appeared in San Mateo County Superior Court to answer to one count of misappropriating lost property, attorneys said. Instead, the men's lawyers entered pleas on their behalf to
San Mateo County encompasses part of what's commonly called Silicon Valley, with San Francisco to the north and Apple's headquarters of Cupertino to the south in Santa Clara County. Court documents unsealed last year at the request of and other
The suit, which was filed last week in San Jose federal court, names San Mateo County Sheriff Greg Munks as well as the officer who allegedly wrote the phone number down incorrectly, Deputy Michael McVay. The San Mateo County Transit District,
A San Mateo County Superior Court judge is expected to rule next week on whether Half Moon Bay officials improperly managed a 2009 project to clear the drainage ditch along Kehoe Avenue. If found culpable, the city could be ordered to pay
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