something he was authorized to do. In fact it was his job.
Not after he was let go from the company.
It's incredibly easy to remove or restrict a login account that has any kind of password. It is *universal* policy to do this when employees should no longer have access to specific accounts. Were I a judge I think I'd have to at least consider whether KTXL made a good faith effort to secure their system, and whether that lack of effort should mitigate the punishment handed down. When consent can clearly, easily, and unequivocably be retracted does the fact that said consent wasn't retracted imply consent? despite other factors?
As with so many things in the law, it falls back on the violator's intent to do harm, which was, in this case, clearly established. If he'd done the exact same thing with the intent to correct an error in their publication I doubt he'd be going to jail, and possibly he'd avoid the felony record.