The residence of Gizmodo editor Jason Chen, associated with leaking the details of Apple’s fourth-generation iPhone prototype, was recently raided by California’s Rapid Enforcement Allied Computer Team, after being duly issued a search warrant; and confiscated a MacBook, MacBook Pro, IBM ThinkPad, a Dell desktop, 16GB iPhone, 32GB iPad, an AirPort Extreme, and external hard drives.

Noting that the investigators have identified and interviewed the ‘mysterious’ person who took the iPhone – lost by an Apple engineer in the Gourmet Haus Staudt on March 18 -, San Mateo County Chief Deputy District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe told the San Jose Business Journal: “The investigation has contacted as many segments of the people involved in this situation, including the person who took the phone from the German restaurant. The police know who he is and they have talked to him.”

However, with the California authorities are still to ascertain whether Chen is protected as a journalist under state laws, Wagstaffe has revealed that the impounded items from Chen’s house will remain untouched till the legal protection issue is resolved.

Meanwhile, Gizmodo has already invoked the California shield law in the case – the law protects journalists against the handing over of anonymous sources or unpublished material to law enforcement -, and in case attorney’s opine that Chen is not protected by the legal clause, Gizmodo will likely seek an

injunction to prevent investigators from examining the confiscated material.