How Gizmodo escaped indictment in iPhone prototype deal

From CNET News.com: Last year's investigation began with a raid on Gizmodo editor Jason Chen's Fremont, Calif., home, followed by a painstaking examination of Chen's electronic files. Investigators suggested at the time that Chen could face criminal charges, and he soon hired a criminal defense attorney.

But San Mateo County District Attorney Steven Wagstaffe told CNET yesterday that there was not enough evidence to indict Chen or anyone else affiliated with Gizmodo.

"What we were looking at was possession of stolen property and whether the evidence supported extortion," Wagstaffe said. "You can say we were looking at whether their actions supported that they participated in the theft of the phone. We didn't think it supported either."

Wagstaffe said, however, that his office's review of the computers seized from Chen's home showed the correspondence between Gizmodo editors was "juvenile."

"It was obvious that they were angry with the company about not being invited to some press conference or some big Apple event. We expected to see a certain amount of professionalism--this is like 15-year-old children talking," Wagstaffe said. "There was so much animosity, and they were very critical of Apple. They talked about having Apple right where they wanted them and they were really going to show them."

Thomas Nolan, Chen's defense attorney, did not respond to a request for comment. After prosecutors announced in August that they would not be filing charges, Gizmodo's parent company, Gawker Media, published a statement saying that "we are glad that we can finally put this matter behind us."

Wagstaffe's reference to extortion was echoed last year by then-Apple chief executive Steve Jobs, who died on October 5 after struggling against pancreatic cancer. At a conference in June 2010, Jobs suggested that Gizmodo tried to "extort" Apple.

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