IDG News Service - The man accused of breaking into the home of late Apple CEO Steve Jobs appeared in a California court on Monday morning but did not enter a plea.
Instead, the Santa Clara Superior Court elected to extend the arraignment hearing for Kariem McFarlin to Sept. 19 after McFarlin's family retained a lawyer. McFarlin was previously represented by a public defender's office and the delay will allow the new lawyer, James Kellenberger, to come up to speed on the case.
Kellenberger declined to answer reporters' questions outside of the courthouse. [See YouTube video of Kellenberger speaking.]
"I have an ethical duty to my client and will not discuss this case with the public or the press," Kellenberger said.
The court hearing took place in Palo Alto, about a kilometer from the home where Jobs lived.
McFarlin spoke only twice, answering in a soft voice to his name and that he understood and consented to the delay.
Prosecutors allege that McFarlin, 35, broke into the house sometime between the evening of July 17 and the morning of July 18. The house was unoccupied at the time due to construction work. McFarlin is accused of stealing several iPads, iMac desktop computers, and personal effects including jewelry and Jobs' wallet.
Detectives were able to track down the stolen iPads after Apple supplied the IP addresses of Internet connections that they had used to contact Apple servers. Jewelry was later traced to a dealer in Pennsylvania and other personal items were recovered.
McFarlin remains in the Santa Clara County jail, where he is being held on US$500,000 bail.
Martyn Williams covers mobile telecoms, Silicon Valley and general technology breaking news for The IDG News Service. Follow Martyn on Twitter at @martyn_williams. Martyn's e-mail address is martyn_williams@idg.com
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