Palin to testify in hacking trial
Written by Janet
The jury today in the trial of the former college student who alledgedly hacked into Sarah Palin’s email account in 2008 heard testimony that he didn’t believe in what Palin wanted to do as the Republican Vice Presidential candidate.
Palin received a subpoena testify at the trial of 22-year-old David Kernell, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Greg Weddle said in court for the first time that Palin’s husband, Todd Palin, and their daughter, Bristol, are also potential witnesses in the trial that could last a week or longer.
Kernell’s attorney told a federal jury that his client had no criminal intent and guessed his way into Palin’s personal e-mail. But Kernell’s former roommate opened the trial with his testimony.
Omiecinski, the first government witness, said Kernell never said anything about wanting to hurt the former Alaska governor and 2008 running mate of presidential candidate John McCain. Omiecinski said he and others were having a party in Kernell’s absence at their apartment days later when FBI agents seized Kernell’s laptop. He said Kernell afterward always told him to tell the truth about what happened.
The McCain campaign in 2008 described the e-mail intrusion as a shocking invasion of the governor’s privacy and a violation of law. Prosecutors have not said when Palin or any other witnesses will take the stand.
A prosecutor told jurors that Kernell had hoped to derail the campaign for vice president.
U.S. District Judge Thomas Phillips denied pre-trial defense motions to have prospective jurors answer a questionnaire asking if they have strong political feelings about Palin. Kernell’s attorney, Wade Davies, cited Palin’s speaking slot at a tea party movement convention and frequent television appearances.
If convicted, Kernell could face 50 years in prison for – identity theft, wire fraud, intentionally accessing Palin’s e-mail account without authorization and obstructing an FBI investigation, all which are felonies.
An attorney for Palin, Thomas Van Flein of Anchorage, Alaska, has said in an e-mail that Palin has been subpoenaed and she will honor that commitment. Van Flein declined to comment about the case or about how Palin feels about it.
Kernell, who has been free on bond since pleading not guilty, sat with his attorneys in court, wearing a dark suit.
- Posted in: US Lawsuits, Laws, & Legislation
- Tagged: David Kernell, email hacking, Sarah Palin, trial
Newsdesk International 
Sarah Palin’s daughter testified Wednesday against a former college student charged with breaking into her mother’s e-mail account, saying she got anonymous phone calls and hundred of text messages after her cell phone number was posted online.
“There was one that really scared me,” Bristol Palin testified in federal court. She said she was concerned when a bunch of boys called, claiming they were at her front door and needed to be let in.
“We live in the middle of nowhere in Alaska … in the middle of the woods,” Palin said.
Palin said her number was included with a photo she snapped of her brother Trigg taking his first bite of solid food and e-mailed to her parents while they were away during the 2008 presidential campaign.
David Kernell, a 22-year-old former economics major, is accused of invading Sarah Palin’s Yahoo! account after she was picked as the Republican vice presidential candidate. It was reported that she used private e-mail for some government business while governor of Alaska.
Authorities say Kernell correctly guessed answers to personal security questions based on published facts about Palin, reset the password to “popcorn,” then made screenshots of contents of her account and posted some of the information on public websites.
Kernell has not been accused of the harassing calls, e-mails and text messages that Bristol Palin and a former aide described to jurors. His attorney claims the e-mail intrusion was just a prank.
Bristol Palin testified in the second day of the felony trial that she had to turn her phone over to investigators and went without phone service for weeks because her grandparents’ Wasilla home had no land line and couldn’t sign a new cell phone contract as a 17-year-old.
She said her cell phone number “wouldn’t have been posted if it hadn’t been hacked into.”
“There were threatening messages and there were harassing messages and there were all sorts of messages,” she testified.
After court ended for the day, Kernell was asked by WMC-TV of Memphis what he thought of Bristol Palin.
He replied, “She’s not my type.”
Ivy Frye, a longtime friend of the Palin family in Wasilla, Alaska, and former special assistant to Palin when she was governor, testified Wednesday that the posting of the screen shots led to numerous “vile” and “vulgar” e-mails being sent to the accounts of Palin’s children and other relatives and friends. Frye said all their e-mail addresses were exposed.
Frye said she was the first to be notified hours after the e-mail intrusion. She said Palin was on the road campaigning, about two weeks after becoming the vice presidential candidate. Frye said she immediately contacted Todd Palin, among others.
Frye said she later saw her own e-mail address posted online and in “various national publications.”
Jurors also have heard from a records manager with Yahoo! and from Kernell’s former University of Tennessee roommate, who said Kernell was politically opposed to Palin, but never said anything about wanting to hurt her and her running mate, Sen. John McCain.
Defense attorney Wade Davies has attempted to show that the e-mail account was accessible to other people, was sometimes used for political and official messages and was not just private.
Frank Bailey of Anchorage, a former Sarah Palin campaign aide who also worked in her state administration, testified that he set up the e-mail account for Palin to use for “her personal and partisan” political communication.
Bailey also said that after the intrusion he “archived” the e-mail messages and later turned over the records to Palin’s attorney.
Bristol Palin testified she was aware of another message between her mother and then-Lt. Gov. Sean Parnell about a radio talk show host. Parnell is now governor.
Sarah Palin testifies in e-mail hacking trial
Sarah Palin testified Friday about the disruption and hurt caused when her e-mail account was hacked during the 2008 presidential campaign and said outside court that there should be consequences for what happened.
http://channels.isp.netscape.com/news/story.jsp?floc=NW_2-T&idq=/ff/story/0001%2F20100423%2F6996.htm&sc=1110
Defendant in Palin hacking case won’t testify
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.
http://channels.isp.netscape.com/news/story.jsp?floc=ne-us-12-l10&idq=/ff/story/0001%2F20100426%2F1452.htm&sc=1110
Jurors are to begin deliberating on Tuesday.
Jury convicts on 2 charges in Palin e-mail hacking
The son of a Democratic Tennessee lawmaker was convicted Friday on two charges in the hacking of Sarah Palin’s e-mail account while she campaigned on the Republican presidential ticket in 2008.
The federal court jury reached its verdict against David Kernell, 22, after four days of deliberation. He was found guilty of obstruction of justice and unauthorized access to a computer, but was acquitted on a charge of wire fraud.
The jury deadlocked on a charge of identify theft. Prosecutors reserve the right to have a new trial on that charge. The charge of obstructing an investigation carries a maximum 20-year prison sentence and unauthorized access to a computer is a misdemeanor with a maximum one-year sentence.
U.S. District Judge Thomas Phillips did not immediately set a sentencing date.
Kernell’s defense attorney maintained the hack amounted to college prank, not a crime. Kernell was a student at the University of Tennessee at the time. Prosecutors argued it was a more serious effort to damage Palin’s political campaign.
Knoxville Assistant U.S. Attorney Greg Weddle, the chief prosecutor in the case, said they had not decided whether to try Kernell again on the identity theft charge.
Palin and her daughter Bristol testified about harassment and disruption they suffered after some e-mail was posted online showing personal cell phone numbers.
The former Alaska governor posted a statement on her Facebook page, saying she and her family “are thankful that the jury thoroughly and carefully weighed the evidence and issued a just verdict.”
“As Watergate taught us, we rightfully reject illegally breaking into candidates’ private communications for political intrigue in an attempt to derail an election,” the statement said.
Jurors were told by the judge not to speak to the media and they declined comment as they left courthouse. Kernell, his mother and defense attorney Wade Davies also declined comment as they walked away.
Davies said in a statement released afterward that Kernell is doing well, appreciates the support of family and friends and is “grateful for the time and consideration the jury gave to his case.” Davies said further comment would be inappropriate with the case still pending.
Democratic state Rep. Mike Kernell did not immediately return a message left by The Associated Press on Friday.
The prosecution case enlivened dull testimony about the intricacies of e-mail and the Internet with star power, including the Palins and mention of local sports hero Peyton Manning.
Technical testimony recounted how investigators traced the break-in to Kernell, who was never accused of the harassing calls and texts.
Sarah Palin was the most anticipated witness and she smiled through 30 minutes of testimony last Friday about how disruptive and hurtful the posting had been. Some jurors smiled at her as well.
Outside the courtroom she wouldn’t say whether the charges against Kernell were excessive or whether a conviction should bring prison time.
“I do think there should be consequences for bad behavior,” she told the dozens of reporters covering the trial.
Todd Palin also appeared at the trial but didn’t take the witness stand.