Jury convicts Palin e-mail hacker on two counts
Tennessee jury convicts 22-year-old son of a Democratic politician of hacking into Sarah Palin's Yahoo e-mail account when she was a U.S. vice presidential candidate.
A Tennessee jury on Friday convicted the 22-year-old son of a Democratic politician of hacking into Sarah Palin's Yahoo e-mail account when she was a U.S. vice presidential candidate in 2008.
The federal jury found David Kernell guilty of unauthorized access to a computer and destroying records to obstruct justice. Kernell, the son of a state legislator, was acquitted on a wire fraud charge, and the jury deadlocked on an identity theft charge.
It's unclear when Kernell's sentencing will happen. U.S. District Judge Thomas Phillips has not yet set a date.
In a statement after the verdict, Palin said: "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."
Some snippets from Palin's account were leaked publicly in September 2008, including some family photographs.
Kernell was indicted a month later for the intrusion, which relied on social engineering.