Calif. Attorney General may file charges in HP case in a week
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California Attorney General Bill   Lockyer may file criminal charges within a week in its   investigation of tactics used by Hewlett-Packard Co. HPQ.N in   an inquiry into boardroom leaks, a spokesman said on Wednesday.
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(InfoWorld) - Former Hewlett-Packard Co. chairwoman Patricia Dunn made a brief court appearance Thursday in Santa Clara County, California, to face four state felony charges in the HP boardroom scandal. Superior Court Judge Alfonso Fernandez scheduled her arraignment for Nov. 17, at which she will enter a plea to charges in the case. Also making an initial court appearance earlier in the day was Kevin Hunsaker, HP's former ethics counsel, who surrendered, was booked and was scheduled for an arraignment December 6, according to the office of California Attorney General Bill Lockyer. Three private investigators hired by HP to investigate suspected leaks to news media by HP directorsÂ were also charged Wednesday, but since they are from out-of-state, their court appearances will likely occur sometime next week, Lockyer's office said. Each of the five defendants face charges of fraudulent wire communications, wrongful use of computer data, identity theft and conspiracy. The state alleges that Dunn and Hunsaker authorized an investigation of leaks and hired the private investigators. The investigators allegedly obtained, under false pretenses, the phone records of individuals targeted in their investigation, including HP directors, some employees and journalists who cover the technology company.ADVERTISEMENTMAKE SOA REAL WITH IBM WEBSPHERE PODCASTStreamline processes and maximize efficiency within a proven service oriented architecture. Take back control of your business processes with IBM WebSphere.
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Hewlett-Packard Co. chairwoman Patricia Dunn, a former company lawyer, and three outside investigators wereÂ charged Wednesday in CaliforniaÂ on felony charges related to the conduct of an investigationÂ to track down news leaks from the HP board that allegedly broke state law.
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Defense and prosecution attorneys in theÂ Hewlett-Packard spying caseÂ are scheduled to meet with the presiding judge Dec. 4 to discuss possible plea bargains, the San Jose Mercury News reported Saturday.
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The California attorney general   said on Friday there was no evidence yet linking   Hewlett-Packard Co. HPQ.N Chief Executive Mark Hurd to any   criminal wrongdoing, as scrutiny grew over his role in the PC   and printer maker's probe of boardroom leaks.
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Despite the California attorney generalÂs assertion that he has enough evidence to press charges against people inside and outside Hewlett-Packard, a criminal case may be hard to prosecute, legal specialists say.
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California Attorney General Bill Lockyer says criminal charges are "likely" in the scandal surrounding alleged spying involving the board of Hewlett-Packard Co. (HP), reports say.
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California Attorney General Bill Lockyer yesterday said crimes were committed in a Hewlett-Packard Co. investigation of board members ' possible involvement in corporate information leaks , and charges are likely to be brought against either company executives or private investigators they hired .
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(InfoWorld) - A state judge in California on Thursday dismissed charges against the three remaining state criminal defendants in theÂ Hewlett-Packard spying case. Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge Ray Cunningham dropped charges against former HP attorney Kevin Hunsaker and private investigators Ron DeLia and Matthew DePante. The charges were dropped for their part in the use of false pretenses to obtain phone records of individuals they were investigating for leaking HP board deliberations to news media. Cunningham agreed to the dismissal after each of the defendants performed at least 96 hours of community service. In fact, each of them did more than required. According to each of their attorneys, the defendants did the following: DeLia, the owner of Security Outsourcing Solutions, a security firm hired by HP, performed 100 hours of community service at a veterans' organization; DePante, of Action Research Group, an investigative firm hired by DeLia, performed 120 hours at a church organization; and Hunsaker performed 165 hours at a nonprofit legal organization "At worst, the conduct in this case amounted to boardroom politics and a betrayal of trust rather than criminal activity," Cunningham said from the bench in his courtroom in San Jose, Calif. None of the defendants were in the courtroom but were represented by their attorneys. Deputy State Attorney General Ralph Sivilla said the state agreed to the dismissal. "I think everybody at Hewlett-Packard thought they were doing the right thing, the legal thing," Tom Nolan, Hunsaker's attorney, said after the hearing. "They had a serious problem and they relied upon counsel.... But as the [judge] said, they really didn't commit any crimes." The serious problem Nolan referred to, of course, was the leaking of board deliberations to the media. To trace the source of leaks, the private investigators obtained calling records of HP directors, some employees, and several reporters covering HP. At a hearing in March, Cunningham dismissed all charges against former HP chairman Patricia Dunn and said he would dismiss the charges against the other three if they performed community service. The scandal "has achieved much public good," Cunningham said, in that it has brought attention to the problem of "pretexting," or using false pretenses to access private records. It has resulted in the passage of state and federal laws specifically banning the practice. Also, HP agreed to a $14.5 million civil case settlement with the State of California in December 2006 that will support a state program focused on privacy protection. Cunningham noted that The Wall Street Journal editorialized that his dismissal decision in March showed "wisdom and compassion." Given that a Journal reporter was one of the victims of the pretexting, that's a notable endorsement, he said. Bryan Wagner still faces sentencing in federal court in San Jose on one count of conspiracy and one count of aggravated identity theft. HeÂ pleaded guilty to those chargesÂ in January. Wagner was hired by Action Research Group to do the actual pretexting to obtain the phone records, according to court testimony.DeLia's attorney, John Williams, said his client hopes "he gets to go back to work and get on with his life." This story was updated on June 28, 2007
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Former Hewlett-Packard Co.   Chairman Patricia Dunn is due to surrender to  authorities on Thursday afternoon on felony charges for spying  on reporters and company directors, the California attorney  general's office said.
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Former Hewlett-Packard Co.  Chairman Patricia Dunn is due to surrender to authorities on Thursday afternoon on felony charges for spying on reporters and company directors, the California attorney general's office said.
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Former Hewlett-Packard Co. Chief  Executive Carly Fiorina's account of how she tried to plug  boardroom leaks in 2005 is likely to attract the interest of  prosecutors in view of HP's current scandal, but the tactics  she outlined appear legal, lawyers say.
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California's attorney general  filed a criminal complaint on Wednesday seeking indictments of  former Hewlett-Packard Co. Chairman Patricia Dunn and four  others for their roles in a probe into board leaks.
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California's attorney general has   launched an inquiry into methods used by Hewlett-Packard Co.   HPQ.N to investigate boardroom leaks dating back to 2005, the   computer maker said on Wednesday.
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Former Chair floored California's Attorney General has hit five people tied to HP's spy probe with felony charges.â¦
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A California judge Monday dismissed state charges against a figure inÂ the Hewlett-Packard (HP) spying caseÂ becauseÂ the defendant already pleaded guilty to similar federal charges in the case.
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COMPUTER giant Hewlett-Packard's woes have escalated dramatically, with California Attorney General Bill Lockyer warning he has evidence to start indicting employees in the growing boardroom leaks scandal.