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David Kernell, best known for hacking into Sarah Palin's personal Yahoo account during the 2008 presidential campaign, has died from complications of multiple sclerosis. After being sentenced to a year in prison he got his life back on track, by most accounts. Kernell, 30, was a student at the University of Tennessee 10 years ago when he successfully guessed Palin's security answers, which allowed him to change the password and get access to the Yahoo account, the Memphis Commercial Appeal reported while confirming his death last week in California through family members.

MEMPHIS — David Kernell, the University of Tennessee-Knoxville student who guessed his way into Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin’s personal email account in 2008, died last week in California. He was 30. (Please see link for full article)

A year behind bars: That's what David Kernell received for guessing his way into the private email account of vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin in 2008. So that would certainly be the starting point for penalties due the perpetrator of this latest invasion of privacy against the politically powerful. From a lengthy account by The Smoking Gun (that includes private Bush family photos and information, if you'd rather not be party to seeing that stuff): The apparent hack of several e-mail accounts has exposed personal photos and sensitive correspondence from members of the Bush family, including both former U.S. presidents,...

A federal appeals court has rejected a former University of Tennessee college student's appeal against being convicted for hacking former Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin's personal e-mail account during the 2008 campaign. Lawyers for the ex-student, David Kernell, said the felony obstruction of justice statute he was convicted under was so vague as to be unconstitutional. In particular, they argued, Kernell had no obvious notice that a federal investigation was underway before he deleted files from his computer and defragmented his hard disk. However, according to Politico, in an opinion Monday, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of...

...Now don’t weep for this weasel, he is connected as high as they can go. His father is Mike Kernell, a longtime Tennessee State Representative, and a democrat, of course. More importantly though, David, who is a student at the University of Tennessee appears to have ties to the highest levels of Barack Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign...

To the United States, Julian Assange may now be Public Enemy Number One. Some American politicians have even called for his execution. But less than a year ago, the founder of WikiLeaks was officially entertained at a US Embassy cocktail party by one of the very diplomats whose secrets he would soon spill to the world. Mr Assange's site had already published dozens of leaks embarrassing to the US, including secret Guantanamo Bay detainee handling manuals and the full emails of Sarah Palin, the 2008 Republican vice-presidential candidate. The US State Department condemned the manuals' publication as "a criminal act."

It was just after midnight on September 16 2008. Somewhere in the heart of the United States, a web surfer known only by the nickname ‘Rubico’ flipped open his laptop and stared intently at the screen. It was the height of the US presidential election campaign and the television was filled with images of Sarah Palin, who had been confirmed as John McCain’s running mate. Earlier, Rubico had wondered whether a hunch he’d had about an email security flaw meant it would be possible to access her private messages. It was time to find out. The first piece of the...

ID theft retrial in Palin hacking hinges on appealBy Bill Poovey Fri May 7, 5:57 pm ET CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – Prosecutors say a Tennessee man convicted of two federal charges in the hacking of Sarah Palin's e-mail account would be retried on an identity theft charge that left a jury deadlocked only if a defense request for a retrial is granted. David Kernell, 22, was found guilty April 30 in federal court in Knoxville of obstruction of justice and unauthorized access to a computer, but acquitted of a wire fraud charge for hacking Palin's account as she campaigned on the...

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Tennessee Man Convicted of Illegally Accessing Sarah Palin’s E-mail Account and Obstruction of Justice David C. Kernell, 22, was convicted by a federal jury in Knoxville, Tenn., today for intentionally accessing without authorization the e-mail account of former Alaska governor Sarah Palin and obstruction of justice, Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney James R. Dedrick for the Eastern District of Tennessee announced. After a week-long trial, a jury found Kernell guilty of one count of misdemeanor unauthorized access to obtain information from a computer and one count of obstruction of...

A jury in Tennessee today found David Kernell guilty of two of four charges against him. Kernell was found guilty of computer fraud and obstruction of justice. These two charges could carry a combined maximum penalty of up to 25 years in prison and $500,000 in fines. The jury deadlocked on the charge of identity theft and he was not found guilty on the charge of wire fraud. Prosecutors have reserved the right to hold a new trial for the deadlocked charge of identity theft. The judge in the case will determine the sentencing. Expect Karnell to get off with...

KNOXVILLE — A federal jury this afternoon convicted Sarah Palin e-mail intruder David C. Kernell of felony destruction of records to hamper a federal investigation and misdemeanor unlawfully obtaining information from a protected computer. The jury acquitted Kernell, 22, of wire fraud. It remains deadlocked on felony identity theft. It’s unclear if U.S. District Judge Thomas W. Phillips will order the jurors, in their fourth day of deliberations, to continue.

KNOXVILLE - Jurors in the trial of accused Sarah Palin e-mail intruder David C. Kernell were this morning urged to reach a complete verdict in the case. The jurors began their fourth day of deliberations by hearing a special added instruction from U.S. District Judge Thomas W. Phillips. Called an Allen charge in legal parlance, it is commonly called "a dynamite charge." Phillips told the jurors that as they resume deliberating they should each reconsider their positions, but there was no need to rush to a verdict. The jurors reported shortly before 9 a.m. and then retired to resume deliberations...

KNOXVILLE - Federal court jurors reported today they have reached a verdict on three of four charges against former University of Tennessee student David C. Kernell, accused of illegally accessing the private e-mail account of 2008 GOP vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin. But they also reported they are deadlocked on the first count, a charge of identity theft. Without asking what their verdict is on the other counts, U.S. District Judge Thomas W. Phillips sent them back to the jury room to continue deliberating the first count. In their written communication to the judge this afternoon, the jurors said: "Some...

As a federal jury began a third day of deliberating, it shows no sign a verdict is near in the trial of a former University of Tennessee student accused of hacking Sarah Palin's e-mail. There were no smiles among the six women and six men when they came back into court Wednesday after deliberating four felony charges against 22-year-old David Kernell. Palin's e-mail was hacked shortly after she was picked in 2008 to be on the Republican presidential ticket.

KNOXVILLE - A federal prosecutor today urged jurors to convict a former University of Tennessee student of unlocking to the world the door on conservative political star Sarah Palin's private Yahoo! e-mail account. "'I leave it to you,'" prosecutor Mark Krotoski said, quoting David C. Kernell's message on an Internet discussion board. "'I'm not going to ruin someone's life' but I'll give you the key, the pass(word). Instantly individuals from around the United States and around the world are in the account. That's what he wanted." But defense attorney Wade Davies countered that Kernell guessed using publicly available information his...

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- The attorney for a former University of Tennessee student charged with hacking Sarah Palin's e-mail says the defendant will not testify in his federal trial in Knoxville.

Governor Palin appeared Friday night “On The Record with Greta Van Susteren.” She discussed testifying in the David Kernell email hacking trial. She also spoke briefly about the new illegal immigration law passed in Arizona and threw in a little ‘Federalism 101' lesson for viewers at home.

Kernell, if convicted is facing as many as 50 years in prison. Some may find that harsh. Let me remind you: G.Gordon Liddy was sentenced to 20 years in prison and a $40,000 fine for his part in the Watergate affair, and he wasn’t even one of those who actually broke into the DNC offices. I doubt Kernell will get 50 years, but a strong sentence is needed in a case like this to send a message to others who would attempt this sort of nonsense. It’s just sad that no one is pursuing the connection to the Obama regime....

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- Sarah Palin testified Friday against a former University of Tennessee student charged with breaking into her e-mail account, saying it compromised the main way she had been communicating with her family while she was campaigning in 2008. Palin told jurors she was in Michigan campaigning as the Republican vice presidential candidate when she first learned from a news report that her e-mail had been hacked....

KNOXVILLE, TN (WMC-TV) - Trial is scheduled to begin Tuesday in the case of a Germantown High School graduate who is accused of hacking into Sarah Palin's email account. Monday, David Kernell and his attorneys left a pre-trial hearing at the federal courthouse in Knoxville without commenting.