Judge to Kernell: See you in September

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The son of Tennessee Democrat state lawmaker Mike Kernell, convicted of illegally breaking into Sarah Palin's private e-mail account and sharing its content on the Web, will learn his fate in less than 100 days:

U.S. District Judge Thomas Phillips on Wednesday set a Sept. 24 sentencing hearing for David C. Kernell, who likely faces a penalty range of 15 to 21 months.

The stakes had been much higher. Kernell was charged with four felony charges in connection with his foray into Palin's personal Yahoo! e-mail account during the 2008 presidential campaign. But after an April trial that drew national media outlets to Knoxville to see Palin herself take the witness stand, an East Tennessee jury rejected one felony charge for a misdemeanor, acquitted Kernell outright of another and failed to reach a verdict on a third.

The jury refused to budge, however, on the felony charge of obstruction of justice in anticipation of a federal investigation, deeming him guilty of allegations he tried to clean his computer of incriminating evidence in the hours after he guessed his way into Palin's account.

Kernell's attorney Wade Davies tried to convince the judge Wednesday to toss out the obstruction conviction, but Phillips said he will issue a written ruling on the motion soon.

- JP