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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...

College student found guilty of hacking into Sarah Palin's personal e-mail account A college student has been found guilty of hacking into former Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin's personal e-mail and posting some of the contents online. College student David Kernell has been found guilty of hacking into Sarah Palin's e-mail A jury decided 22-year-old David Kernell was guilty of obstruction of justice and unauthorised access of a computer, though he was cleared of a wire fraud charge.In a statement issued on her Facebook page, Palin thanked the jury and prosecutors and explained the case's importance: "Besides the obvious invasion...

My family and I are thankful that the jury thoroughly and carefully weighed the evidence and issued a just verdict. Besides the obvious invasion of privacy and security concerns surrounding this issue, many of us are concerned about the integrity of our country’s political elections. America’s elections depend upon fair competition. Violating the law, or simply invading someone’s privacy for political gain, has long been repugnant to Americans’ sense of fair play. As Watergate taught us, we rightfully reject illegally breaking into candidates’ private communications for political intrigue in an attempt to derail an election. I want to thank 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 felony wire fraud. U.S. District Judge Thomas W. Phillips declared a mistrial on the fourth charge, felony identity theft, after the jurors said they were hopelessly deadlocked.

My family and I are thankful that the jury thoroughly and carefully weighed the evidence and issued a just verdict. Besides the obvious invasion of privacy and security concerns surrounding this issue, many of us are concerned about the integrity of our country’s political elections. America’s elections depend upon fair competition. Violating the law, or simply invading someone’s privacy for political gain, has long been repugnant to Americans’ sense of fair play. As Watergate taught us, we rightfully reject illegally breaking into candidates’ private communications for political intrigue in an attempt to derail an election.

The 22-year-old man accused of hacking into the Yahoo! email account of Sarah Palin while she was the Republican candidate for vice president was found guilty of two of four counts: unlawful computer access and obstruction of justice, according to a report in the Knoxville News Sentinel. He was acquitted of the charge of wire fraud and a mistrial was declared on count one, identity theft. David Kernell was a 20-year-old economics student at the University of Tennessee when he hacked his way past security questions to access Palin's personal email account in 2008. Kernell gained access by providing Palin's...

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.

Still no verdict from the jury in the trial of David Kernell who is accused of hacking into Sarah Palin's email account. It's only been two days, but still one would think that this is an open and shut case.

A witness who testified against the man accused of breaching Sarah Palin's Yahoo! Mail account has criticized federal prosecutors for distorting the facts in an attempt to score legal points. Gabriel Ramuglia said the episode left him so disenchanted that he's changing the logging policy for Ctunnel.com, the anonymity proxy used to access Palin's Yahoo account while she was running for vice president in 2008. Before, he collected the IP address of each user along with the time and address of each web visit and stored it for seven days. Now, he logs the minimum required by law. Ramuglia said...

Political ploy gone bust or prankish peek gone awry? That is the question facing jurors today in U.S. District Court as they begin deliberating the fate of former University of Tennessee student David C. Kernell. Kernell, 22, is standing trial on charges he guessed his way past the security features on then-Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's private Yahoo! e-mail account. Authorities allege he perused some of its contents, downloaded photos, captured screenshots and ultimately posted the new password he set on an Internet discussion site, allowing 10 people in the U.S. and abroad to make more than 70 forays into the...

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.

Sarah Palin discusses e-mail hacking trial and the Arizona Immigration law just passed Link to Video Here....

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....

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.