Topics: Security

Palin E-Mail Hacker Trial Delayed

Posted by George Hulme, Nov 16, 2008 07:12 PM

The trial of David "Popcorn" Kernell, the 20-something student who has been accused of hacking then vice president-hopeful Sarah Palin's Yahoo e-mail account, has been postponed.

The trial was pushed from Dec. 16 to May 19, so that both the defense and the prosecution have more time to review the forensics of the case.

Previously, a federal grand jury in Knoxville, Tenn., indicted Kernell for intentionally accessing Palin's e-mail account without authorization. The indictment alleges that Kernell reset the account's password by answering several password recovery security questions, that he read Palin's e-mail, made screenshots, and that he posted that information and the account's password on a public Web site.

Kernell alledgedly changed Palin's password to "popcorn."

Kernell is the son of Tennessee State Rep. Mike Kernell, a Democrat. He faces a maximum of five years in prison, a $250,000 fine, and three years of supervised release if convicted.

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