MISTRIAL DECLARED IN EDWARDS CASE
Jury acquits former senator on other count
John Edwards’ campaign finance fraud case ended in a mistrial Thursday when jurors acquitted him on one of six charges but were unable to decide whether he misused money from two wealthy donors to hide his pregnant mistress while he ran for president.
GREENSBORO, N. C. — John Edwards’ campaign finance fraud case ended in a mistrial Thursday when jurors acquitted him on one charge and deadlocked on the other five, unable to decide whether he used money from two wealthy donors to hide his pregnant mistress while he ran for president and his wife was dying of cancer.
The monthlong trial exposed a sordid sex scandal, but prosecutors couldn’t convince jurors the candidate masterminded a cover- up using about $1 million, and ultimately, jurors decided tawdry didn’t necessarily mean criminal.
“While I do not believe I did anything illegal, or ever thought I was doing anything illegal, I did an awful, awful lot that was wrong and there is no one else responsible for my sins,” Edwards said on the courthouse steps.
The jury’s decision came on a confusing day. The judge initially called jurors in to read a verdict on all six counts, before learning that they had only agreed to one. About an hour later, the jury sent the note to the judge saying it had exhausted its discussions.
Federal prosecutors are unlikely to retry the case, a law enforcement official told AP on the condition of anonymity, because the decision will undergo review in the coming days.
When the not guilty verdict was read, Edwards choked up, put a single finger to his lip and took a moment to compose himself. He turned to his daughter, Cate, in the first row and smiled.
When the judge declared the mistrial and discharged the jury, Edwards hugged his daughter, his parents and his attorneys. Later, he thanked the jury and his family, even choking up when talking about the daughter he had with his mistress Rielle Hunter. He called Francis Quinn Hunter precious “whom I love, more than any of you can ever imagine and I am so close to and so, so grateful for. I am grateful for all of my children.
“I don’t think God’s through with me. I really believe he thinks there’s still some good things I can do and whatever happens with this legal stuff going forward, what I’m hopeful about is all those kids that I’ve seen, you know in the poorest parts of this country and some of the poorest parts in the world that I can help them,” he said.
The jury reached a verdict on count three, which involved $ 375,000 given by elderly heiress Rachel “Bunny” Mellon in 2008. The other counts dealt with $350,000 Mellon gave in 2007, money from wealthy Texas attorney Fred Baron, filing a false campaign finance report and conspiracy.