Gizmodo won't be charged in iPhone 4 case

Gawker Media has issued a statement saying that the District Attorney of San Mateo County will not be pursuing charges against Gizmodo nor Jason Chen, Gizmodo's editor, over the leak of the iPhone 4 in April 2010. A prototype of the iPhone 4 was reportedly found in a bar in Redwood City, California, in March 2010 and sold to Gizmodo, who then took it apart, confirmed it was indeed the upcoming iPhone 4 and showed it to the world. Needless to say, wackiness ensued. You can see all the events that played out on this handy flow chart.

Today's statement by the San Mateo Country DA said that, while no charges were being filed against any employee of Gizmodo, the DA "has filed misdemeanor charges against two individuals for the misappropriation of an iPhone 4 prototype that was lost by an Apple employee and subsequently recovered in a Redwood City establishment by the defendants on March 25, 2010. Brian Hogan, 22, of Redwood City, was charged with one count of misappropriation of lost property, and Sage Wallower, 28, of Emeryville, was charged with misappropriation of lost property, and possession of stolen property." Their arraignment is scheduled for August 25.

Gawker Media replied with the statement:

We are pleased that the District Attorney of San Mateo County, Steven Wagstaffe, has decided, upon review of all of the evidence, that no crime was committed by the Gizmodo team in relation to its reporting on the iPhone 4 prototype last year. While we have always believed that we were acting fully within the law, it has inevitably been stressful for the editor concerned, Jason Chen, and we are glad that we can finally put this matter behind us.

They might be off the hook, but something tells me Gizmodo still isn't going to be invited to any Apple press events for a long time to come.