Wired.com has identified the finder of the lost iPhone prototype as Brian J. Hogan. Poor kid. The article basically states that Hogan found the iPhone in a bar, did basically nothing to return it to Apple, and thought the money from Gizmodo was just to have exclusive rights to review it.
Here’s the California statute on theft:
CAL. PEN. CODE § 485 : California Code - Section 485
One who finds lost property under circumstances which give him knowledge of or means of inquiry as to the true owner, and who appropriates such property to his own use, or to the use of another person not entitled thereto, without first making reasonable and just efforts to find the owner and to restore the property to him, is guilty of theft.
Lets look at each element of this crime and compare it to Mr. Hogan’s actions:
(1) finds lost property under circumstances which gave him knowledge of or means of inquiry as to the true owner…
The article states…
Hogan didn’t know what he had until he removed a fake cover from the device and realized it must be a prototype of Apple’s upcoming next-generation iPhone, according to Gizmodo’s account of the find.
check.
(2) and who appropriates such property to his own use, or to the use of another person not entitled thereto…
…several journalists were offered a look at the device. Wired.com received an e-mail March 28 — not from Hogan — offering access to the iPhone, but did not follow up on the exchange after the tipster made a thinly veiled request for money. Gizmodo then paid $5,000 in cash for it.
check.
(3) without first making reasonable and just efforts to find the owner and to restore the property to him…
This is the element where the defense will bank their case. The huge question: what is considered reasonable and just efforts?
According to the statement from his lawyer, Hogan was in the bar with friends when another patron handed him the phone after finding it on a nearby stool. The patron asked Hogan if the phone belonged to him, and then left the bar. Hogan asked others sitting nearby if the phone belonged to them, and when no one claimed it, he and his friends left the bar with the device.
Is asking around to others sitting nearby reasonable and just efforts? Surely, when he realized it was an Apple prototype, the answer would be no.
A friend of Hogan’s then offered to call Apple Care on Hogan’s behalf, according to Hogan’s lawyer. That apparently was the extent of Hogan’s efforts to return the phone.
Not good. These aren’t reasonable and just efforts because they weren’t even done, yet alone suggested by the defendant.
The prosecution’s case seems to be sealed tight against Mr. Hogan. You’re guilty buddy. You know it’s bad when the following are the final couple of lines from your attorney…
His attorney says he recently transferred schools and will resume his college education in the fall. He has been working part time at a church-run community center giving swimming lessons to children and volunteered at a Chinese orphanage last year while he was enrolled in a study-abroad program.
“He also volunteers to assist his aunt and sister with fundraising for their work to provide medical care to orphans in Kenya,” his attorney says. “Brian is the kind of young man that any parent would be proud to have as their son.”
Yikes.
