Leon Walker, Mich. Dad, Faces Trial for Reading Estranged Wife's E-mails

(CBS/WWJ/AP) Leon Walker, a Michigan man facing felony charges for allegedly hacking into his estranged wife's computer to access her e-mails, has had his trial postponed to give his lawyers more time to prepare their case.

Walker, of Rochester Hills, is accused under a state hacking law of reading then-wife Clara Walker's e-mail on a laptop in their home in 2009.

The trial was originally slated to begin this month. Instead, it was rescheduled for April 11, in Oakland County Circuit Court in   Pontiac.

Walker, an information technology worker, faces up to five years in prison for violating an Internet computer misuse law which was designed to protect the stealing of trade secrets and identities.

Clara Walker, 35, filed the complaint against her husband last year, after she learned he had hacked into her email account and read emails which exposed an affair she was having with her second husband. He had been arrested on charges of beating her in front of a child she had with her first husband.

Walker claims his now ex-wife had told him the password, and that he originally went into her account to confirm that she was taking their 3-year-old daughter on liaisons with the second husband.

Walker also presented the emails to the first husband because he was allegedly concerned for the child's safety. The first husband then filed for custody of the child and attached the emails to the court filing, reports Arizona Central.

Walker's lawyer Leon Weiss is using the additional time to review police records from the sheriff's office involving spouses and ex-spouses reporting that their e-mails had been read; however, he could not find a single prosecution, says Arizona Central.

Prosecutor Paul Walton said Walker's actions merited the felony charge and that he used the information to "humiliate her."

Leon and Clara Walker divorced in December 2010.