So does this mean that he IS officially excommunicated or just that he could be pending the hearing?
This post about sums it up ..
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1248843/posts?page=58#58 Kerry has incurred latae sentatiae excommunication.
Formal excommunication proceedings by the Church are very rare but automatic excommunication like this is common -- you don't hear about it because there's no public announcement from God on the matter.
So does that mean that if a priest gives him communion, the priest is in trouble? And I got the impression yesterday from the link you posted that there were formal proceedings against him. I didn't exactly understand what they were.