Apple says iPhone unlocking help in drug case may not be needed

Apple Inc said the U.S.Justice Department's new attempts to unlock an iPhone used byone of the San Bernardino shooters without the tech giant's helpcould eliminate the government's need for its assistance in asimilar dispute in New York.

The company's position was laid out in a letter filed onThursday in federal court in Brooklyn, New York, seeking to
delay briefing in the Justice Department's appeal of a rulingthat protects Apple from unlocking an iPhone in a drug
case.

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The letter came after U.S. prosecutors on Monday disclosedthat "an outside party" had presented a possible way to open thephone in the San Bernardino investigation, which they said couldeliminate the need for an order requiring Apple's help.

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In its letter, Apple said if the method being evaluated inthe San Bernardino case can also be used in the Brooklyn drug
case, "it would eliminate the need for Apple's assistance."

Apple said that could affect the Justice Department's appealof a Feb. 29 ruling by U.S. Magistrate Judge James Orensteinthat he did not have authority to order Apple to disable thesecurity of an iPhone seized during the drug investigation.

"On the other hand, if the DOJ claims that the method willnot work on the iPhone here, Apple will seek to test that claim,as well as any claims by the government that other methodscannot be used," Apple said in the letter.

Apple as a result asked U.S. District Judge Margo Brodie,who is presiding over the appeal, to delay the briefing schedulein the case by at least 10 days after the Justice Departmentfiles a status report on April 5 in the San Bernardino case.

A spokeswoman for the Justice Department did not immediatelyrespond to a request for comment on Friday. Apple in its lettersaid the Justice Department did not oppose the delay.

The phone in the Brooklyn case belonged to Jun Feng, who hassince pleaded guilty to participation in a methamphetaminedistribution conspiracy. The Justice Department sought to unlockFeng's phone to find other conspirators.

Unlike the phone used by Rizwan Farook in San Bernardino,Feng's phone had an older operating system, iOS 7, which is notprotected under the same encryption technology.