Intellectual Property Law

No Indictment Tuesday Against Palin Hacker

By Ryan Singel, Kevin Poulsen, Sarah Lai Stirland, Kim Zetter, and David Kravets

A grand jury ended its session this morning without indicting University of Tennessee student David Kernell, who is suspected of hacking Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's private e-mail account, an area newspaper is reporting.

The Chattanooga Free Press doesn't offer a lot of details other than to say that Kernell's three roommates appeared before the grand jury this morning and that the session ended without an indictment. The grand jury will likely meet again to hear more evidence in the investigation.

Kernell, 20, has been meeting with a lawyer in Knoxville, Tennessee. Attorney Wade V. Davies released the following statement to the media on Monday:

"I have been asked by the Kernell family to represent their son, David. This is a difficult time for David and his family. The Kernell family wants to do the right thing, and they want what is best for their son. We are confident that the truth will emerge as we go through the process. David is a decent and intelligent young man, and I look forward to assisting him during this difficult period."

David Kernell and his father, Democratic state representative Mike Kernell, met with Davies for dinner on Friday evening in Knoxville, according to a Memphis blogger and friend of the family named Sharon Cobb. The elder Kernell drove from his home in Memphis to Knoxville that day and has been staying with his son in a hotel since FBI agents visited David Kernell's apartment over the weekend to photograph it.

According to a witness who spoke with Wired.com on Monday, ten FBI agents appeared on Friday at The Commons apartment complex where David Kernell lives and served at least one of his three roommates with a subpoena. The following night at least two FBI agents returned to Kernell's apartment, where a small party was in progress, to execute a search warrant and photograph the apartment.

See Also:

• FBI Searches Apartment of Tennessee Student Suspected of Palin Hack
• Little or No Jail Time Likely for Palin Hacker
• Palin E-Mail Hacker Says It Was Easy
• Group Posts E-Mail Hacked from Palin Account

Full post as published by Threat Level on September 23, 2008 (boomark / email).