Bristol Palin Testifies Against Her Mother's E-mail Hacker

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (CBS/AP) Bristol Palin, daughter of former Alaska governor Sarah Palin, testified against the former Tennessee college student charged with breaking into her mother's e-mail account during the 2008 presidential campaign.

On Wednesday, Bristol told a federal jury that she received countless phone calls and hundreds of text messages when her cell number was posted online after her mother's e-mail account was allegedly hacked into by David Kernell. Only one really scared her.

Bristol, who was 17 and pregnant during her mother's 2008 presidential campaign, testified that she was worried when a bunch of boys called claiming they were at her front door and wanted in.

"We live in the middle of nowhere in Alaska," she said, "in the middle of the woods."

She said her number "wouldn't have been posted if it hadn't been hacked into." As a result, she had to turn her phone over to investigators and went without a cell phone for weeks because she couldn't sign a new contract as a 17-year-old, reports the New York Daily News.

David Kernall who was an economics major at the University of Tennesse at the time, has not been accused of the harassing e-mails, calls, and text messages; however, he is on trial for identity theft, wire fraud, intentionally accessing Palin's e-mail account without authorization and obstructing an FBI investigation. If convicted, he could be sent to prison for up to 50 years.

Kernell's attorney Wade Davies claims the e-mail intrusion was just a prank and has attempted to show that the account was accessible to other people, was sometimes used for political and official messages and was not just private.

Jurors have heard from family and friends of the Palin family, including Frank Bailey, a former Palin campaign aide who set up the e-mail account.  They also heard from a longtime family friend and former assistant to Palin who testified that the posting of the screen shots led to numerous "vile" and "vulgar" e-mails to friends and family, says The New York Daily News.

The jury also heard from the hacker's former roommate who testified that although Kernall was politically opposed to Palin, he never said anything about wanting to hurt her and her running mate, Sen. John McCain.

After court ended for the day, Kernell was asked by WMC-TV of Memphis what he thought of Bristol Palin, according to the Daily News.

He replied, "She's not my type."