[citation][nom]gm0n3y[/nom]I'm pretty sure this is all legal. Apple is claiming that the phone was stolen and that Gizmodo knowingly bought stolen property. Whether this is true or not will come out later, and possibly lead to charges.[/citation]
To further elaborate:
If I steal at TV from BestBuy and tell you that I have a stolen TV for sale, then you buy it from me, this is illegal and you could get charged for this.
The questions here are 1) was this iPhone stolen or just found (and depending on California law, you may have to report a 'found' device, selling it without reporting may be illegal) and 2) did Gizmodo know that the device was stolen when they bought it.