Conviction and sentence upheld in Palin email case

Recent Cases

A federal appeals court panel has upheld the conviction and sentence of a University of Tennessee student in the hacking of Sarah Palin's email in 2008.

The three judge panel in a Monday decision affirmed the conviction of 24-year-old David Kernell. A Knoxville jury last April convicted Kernell of unauthorized access to a protected computer and destroying records to impede a federal investigation.

Kernell's attorney, Wade Davies, contended at trial that Kernell had no criminal intent and that guessing his way into the email account was a prank. Palin was governor of Alaska and John McCain's GOP running mate at the time.

Kernell was released in November after serving less than 11 months.

Davies said he will seek a review by the full U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals.

Related listings

  • More charges filed in Los Angeles arsons case

    More charges filed in Los Angeles arsons case

    Recent Cases 01/25/2012

    A German man pleaded not guilty Tuesday to additional charges accusing him of setting nearly 50 fires, mostly to parked cars, which terrorized parts of Los Angeles over the New Year's weekend. Deputy Public Defender Gustavo Sztraicher entered the ple...

  • Court upholds murder conviction in toddler's death

    Court upholds murder conviction in toddler's death

    Recent Cases 01/24/2012

    Georgia's top court has unanimously upheld the murder convictions and life prison sentences given to a metro Atlanta couple for strangling and beating to death the woman's young daughter. The Georgia Supreme Court's decision on Monday involved the De...

  • Colo. court weighs energy leases near Utah parks

    Colo. court weighs energy leases near Utah parks

    Recent Cases 01/20/2012

    A federal appeals court must decide if the Obama administration gave energy companies sufficient notice that it was scrapping oil and gas leases auctioned off near national parks in Utah in the closing days of the Bush presidency. The sale near Arche...

Workers’ Compensation Subrogation of Administrative Fees and Costs

When a worker covered by workers’ compensation makes a claim against a third party, the workers’ compensation insurance retains the right to subrogate against any recovery from that third party for all benefits paid to or on behalf of a claimant injured at work. When subrogating for more than basic medical and indemnity benefits, the Texas workers’ compensation subrogation statute provides that “the net amount recovered by a claimant in a third‑party action shall be used to reimburse the carrier for benefits, including medical benefits that have been paid for the compensable injury.” TX Labor Code § 417.002.

In fact, all 50 states provide for similar subrogation. However, none of them precisely outlines which payments or costs paid by a compensation carrier constitute “compensation” and can be recovered. The result is industry-wide confusion and an ongoing debate and argument with claimants’ attorneys over what can and can’t be included in a carrier’s lien for recovery purposes.

In addition to medical expenses, death benefits, funeral costs and/or indemnity benefits for lost wages and loss of earning capacity resulting from a compensable injury, workers’ compensation insurance carriers also expend considerable dollars for case management costs, medical bill audit fees, rehabilitation benefits, nurse case worker fees, and other similar fees. They also incur other expenses in conjunction with the handling and adjusting of workers’ compensation claims. Workers’ compensation carriers typically assert, of course, that, they are entitled to reimbursement for such expenditures when it recovers its workers’ compensation lien. Injured workers and their attorneys disagree.

Business News

New York Adoption and Family Law Attorneys Our attorneys have represented adoptive parents, birth parents, and adoption agencies. >> read