Jon Stewart seems to have goofed here, and there's the problem. There's no way unring this bell. Jon missed about 90% of the story, and according to his views, opening a criminal investigation is not ok if it'd going to cause the plaintiff bad publicity, or if the plaintiff seems "mean."
Jon needs to stick to political commentary, which is usually a lot easier to play with than scenarios that involve finer points of law.
Section 2080 of the Civil Code provides that any person who finds and takes charge of a lost item acts as "a depositary for the owner." If the true owner is known, the finder must notify him/her/it within a reasonable time and "make restitution without compensation, except a reasonable charge for saving and taking care of the property." Id. § 2080. If the true owner is not known and the item is worth more than $100, then the finder has a duty to turn it over to the local police department within a reasonable time. Id. § 2080.1. The owner then has 90 days to claim the property. Id. § 2080.2. If the true owner fails to do so and the property is worth more than $250, then the police publish a notice, and 7 days after that ownership of the property vests in the person who found it, with certain exceptions. Id. § 2080.3.
Moving along, Gawker Media better be ready to defend themselves because shield laws won't help if you've committed a felony in order to do a story. That US$5,000 payment is a major smoking gun if Apple can prove the prototype iPhone was officially stolen, which means Gawker Media paid to buy stolen property, a felony in the state of California.
Jon needs to stick to political commentary, which is usually a lot easier to play with than scenarios that involve finer points of law.
Section 2080 of the Civil Code provides that any person who finds and takes charge of a lost item acts as "a depositary for the owner." If the true owner is known, the finder must notify him/her/it within a reasonable time and "make restitution without compensation, except a reasonable charge for saving and taking care of the property." Id. § 2080. If the true owner is not known and the item is worth more than $100, then the finder has a duty to turn it over to the local police department within a reasonable time. Id. § 2080.1. The owner then has 90 days to claim the property. Id. § 2080.2. If the true owner fails to do so and the property is worth more than $250, then the police publish a notice, and 7 days after that ownership of the property vests in the person who found it, with certain exceptions. Id. § 2080.3.
Moving along, Gawker Media better be ready to defend themselves because shield laws won't help if you've committed a felony in order to do a story. That US$5,000 payment is a major smoking gun if Apple can prove the prototype iPhone was officially stolen, which means Gawker Media paid to buy stolen property, a felony in the state of California.