Wired.com and other news outlets are asking a California judge to unseal the search warrant affidavit that led to a police raid on the home of Gizmodo editor Jason Chen, who paid $5,000 for a prototype 4G iPhone.

Under California law, the public has a right to see the documents that led San Mateo County Superior Court Judge Clifford V. Cretan to approve the police search, we argue. We've asked for a hearing on the issue at 2 p.m. PT, Thursday.

On April 23, officers from California’s Rapid Enforcement Allied Computer Team in San Mateo County, California, broke open the front door to Chen's home while no one was there and seized six computers, along with other items. The search has raised questions about the basis investigators used to obtain the warrant and whether it violated state and federal shield laws.

The affidavit in support of the warrant was submitted under seal. The court clerk has refused to answer questions about the seal, and the order sealing the records is itself sealed, even two weeks after the raid.

Under California law, search warrant records are normally made public after the search is complete, and no later than 10 days after the warrant is issued, unless a motion and memo are filed with the court indicating a specific need for sealing. But "despite this clear right of access, all records relating to the warrant have been sealed" in a manner that may violate the procedural requirements for sealing judicial records, our motion argues.

The motion to unseal was prepared Wednesday by attorneys representing Wired.com, the Associated Press, CNET, Bloomberg News, the Los Angeles Times, the California Newspaper Publishers Association and the First Amendment Coalition.

On April 19, Gizmodo, which is owned by Gawker Media, published a story about a new iPhone prototype it had received from an anonymous source who seized the device after an Apple engineer left it on a barstool at the Gourmet Haus Staudt in Redwood City, California. Gawker Media paid $5,000 for it, but returned it to Apple after the company requested it, following publication of its story.

Last week, Wired.com revealed that 21-year-old Brian J. Hogan was the person who found the phone and received payment from Gawker Media to provide exclusive access to review the device.

Hogan's attorney acknowledged that his client met with investigators, but declined to say whether authorities executed a search on Hogan or other parties involved in the sale of the device.

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