Former Broadcom employee acquitted

SANTA ANA, Calif., Feb. 20 (UPI) -- A U.S. judge in Santa Ana, Calif., found a former Broadcom Corp. engineer not guilty Wednesday on charges he stole 4,700 company files before leaving his job.

Tien Shiah, who said "it feels great, great to be exonerated," still faces a civil suit, The Orange County (Calif.) Register reported.

Shiah worked in Broadcom's ethernet division from 2001 to 2003, but left to take a position at Marvel Semiconductor Inc. Before doing so, he downloaded files on pricing and designs that Broadcom described as the company's "crown jewels," the report said.

In his own defense, Shiah said he took the files as part of a personal work record, not to share with his new employer.

"A contrary holding," Judge David O. Carter wrote, "would have a chilling effect on the ability of employees to move freely from one company to another."