Gov. Palin testifies in Kernell mail fraud case

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Sarah Palin testified Friday against the son of a Tennessee state legislator on trial for breaking into her e-mail account. Gov. Palin said that the theft of her email identity compromised how she had been communicating with her family during the 2008 presidential campaign:

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. A few minutes later, her campaign manager and a Secret Service agent told her the report was true, she testified.

David Kernell, the defendant in the case, could go to prison for as many as 50 years if convicted of the four felony charges, including identity theft and mail fraud.

The former Alaska governor said she used the "gov.palin" Yahoo! account and a red Blackberry almost exclusively to communicate with her family in Alaska while she was campaigning as the Republican vice presidential nominee.

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Palin's husband, Todd, listened as she testified. Their daughter Bristol testified earlier this week that she got harassing calls and text messages after screen shots of e-mail from the account revealed her cell phone number.

At Frankly Speaking, Terry Frank has a photo posted of Gov. Palin as she was about to enter the courtroom.

WBIR has more here, including a web video of Gov. Palin answering some questions from the media as she was leaving the courthouse. An ABC News story and video are here, and the Knoxville News Sentinel's report and a photo are here.

- JP

Kernell attorney: Palin e-mails were public record

Via Wired:

A surprise legal maneuver by the defense in the Sarah Palin hacking case could undermine key charges carrying the stiffest potential penalties.

A lawyer for the Tennessee college student charged with hacking into the Alaska governor’s Yahoo e-mail account last year says his client couldn’t have violated Palin’s privacy because a judge had already declared her e-mails a matter of public record.

Wade Davies, attorney for the son of Tennessee State State Rep. Mike Kernell (awesome coincidence - what are the odds?) wants a federal judge to dismiss all of the charges on various grounds. Davies has filed a number of motions and memorandums on behalf of his 20-year-old client David Kernell trying to shoot down the government’s four-count federal indictment.

Will this line of defense work? Wired asked Mark Rasch, a former Justice Department cybercrime prosecutor:

Rasch says the argument that e-mail is not property is "interesting" but will likely fail to get the wire fraud charge dismissed. However, if the matter goes to trial, he says the attorney might be able to convince a jury that Kernell simply accessed the e-mail out of curiosity, not out of an intent to defraud.

The accused hacker's trial is on the docket for Oct. 27.

- JP