Update 11/12/20:
The Gwinnett County judge charged in a computer hacking case has been re-indicted by a grand jury.
Kathryn Schrader was accused of three counts of computer trespass after she allowed a private investigator and two contractors access to the county’s computer system.
According to the AJC, in addition to a felony indictment for computer trespass, Schrader was indicted for felony computer theft and misdemeanor password disclosure. The indictment also included both misdemeanor and felony charges for tampering with evidence and a felony charge for violating her oath of office.
The case ended in a mistrial in February and was delayed due to the pandemic. Last week, a grand jury again indicted Schrader for her role in the case.
Arraignment is set for December 4th.
Original Story 2/18/20:
A mistrial was declared Tuesday in a case involving a Gwinnett County Superior Court Judge and a hack of the Gwinnett County computer system.
Judge Kathryn Schrader faced three counts of computer trespassing, however, the jury failed to reach a decision on any of the counts against the judge, according to the Gwinnett Daily Post.
Schrader had three co-defendants who all reached deals with prosecutors to avoid going on trial, and testified against the judge last week. Private investigator T.J. Ward, former Forsyth County Sheriff's Deputy Frank Karic and DragonCon co-founder Ed Kramer were the other three defendants.
Schrader allegedly hired Ward, who then brought in Karic and Kramer, to monitor her work computer because she thought District Attorney Danny Porter was spying on her through her computer, the Post reported.
Last week, Schrader testified that she was concerned about someone using her office printer and that personal files from her work computer had been shared to a network drive; the paper reported there was also testimony during the trial about another Superior Court judge, who had previously worked for the DA's office before she was elected to the bench in 2018, appearing as an authorized user on Schrader's computer. She also apparently testified she felt her concerns were not adequately addressed, which is why she reached out to Ward, according to the paper.
The district Attorney's Office learned about Kramer's access after he was arrested on unrelated charges. A search of his computer revealed the existence of a file folder containing network data information from the judge's computer.
