Suspects in iPhone 4 Prototype theft plead not guilty

Brian Hogan and Robert Sage Wallower who were named as a suspects in the theft of an iPhone 4 prototype, have pleaded not guilty to the charges. Last year Apple engineer named Gray Powell lost the device in a bar in Redwood City, California. The prototype was then found and taken by Hogan. Instead of felony the two men have been accused of misdemeanor.

“At an arraignment here this morning, lawyers for Brian Hogan, the man who allegedly found the prototype in a bar after it was left there by an Apple engineer, and Robert Sage Wallower, who is accused of that charge as well as possessing stolen property, entered their pleas before Superior Court Judge Jonathan Karesh.”

The prototype was sold by two men to Gizmodo which published the iPhone 4 images, video and the info and then faced a lawsuit from Apple. Gizmodo was cleared in the case, in opposition to Hogan and Wallower.

Under California law, any person who finds a lost thing is not bound to take charge of it, unless the person is otherwise required to do so by contract or law, and anyone who “appropriates such property for his own use”, is guilty of theft. Also anyone who knowingly receives property that has been received illegally can face jail for up to one year.