Now, it looks like that story was a lie-- Businessweek.com reported April 29 that prosecutors are now saying Apple reported the phone as stolen, adding a deeper legal layer to an already complicated case.
The bar patron who found the phone has been identified as 21-year-old Brian Hogan. Hogan said that he was handed the phone by another patron who found it on a barstool, and then immediately left. Hogan asked other patrons around him if the phone was theirs, and when they all said no, he tried to check Facebook.com on it, and then the phone shut off and would not work again. Hogan said he would call Apple product help line AppleCare to report the missing phone, but ended up giving it to Gizmodo instead. Investigators reported that Hogan thought Gizmodo was reviewing the phone, and he sought-- and received-- compensation for it. Hogan believed, and Gizmodo reassured him, that the phone was allowed to be sold to the technology press.
Although I mentioned the Josh Wolf case before, I did not mention that the case could be approached from an angle that avoids the California shield law that Gizmodo could potentially use like the Wolf case did. Because the evidence Wolf may have had that involved the federally funded San Francisco Police Department, the federal government was able to issue the subpoena and carry out the investigation, and federal law overrode the California shield law. Similarly, for Gizmodo, it is possible that Apple will avoid the California shield law completely by focusing on the theft aspect of the case, which may be a strong argument for them. Gizmodo could still seek first amendment rights and seek protection under the California shield law, but if a different angle is pursued, it is possible that the issue can be bypassed.
--Sarah Morrison
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