- David Kernell
David Kernell, son of Memphis state Representative Mike Kernell, has been convicted by a federal jury in Knoxville of one felony and one misdemeanor in connection with the 2008 hacking of Republican vice presdidential candidate Sarah Palin’s email account.
The jury found the 22-year-old Kernell guilty of felony destruction of records to hamper a federal investigation and of a misdemeanor, unlawfully obtaining information from a protected computer. It acquitted Kernell of wire fraud and could not reach a verdict on felony identity theft.
According to news accounts, it was unclear whether presiding federal judge Thomas W. Phillips would order the jurors to continue deliberatiions.
The jury had already reached agreement on the two counts Kernell was convicted on as early as Thursday morning.
On Thursday, a note from the jury had been passerd to Judge Phillips. It read in part: “Some of us feel not all jurors are following jury instructions.”
After the discovery two years ago, as the presidential campaign was winding down, that Palin’s Yahoo email account had been hacked and some of its contents posted online, federal authorities began a thorough investigation, which led to Kernell.
Further details will be posted as they are received.
