Mistrial in Edwards case; retrial unlikely
Ex-senator acquitted on 1 count of corruption; jury deadlocked on 5
Ex-North Carolina senator accused of using campaign money to hide mistress; jury deadlocks on 5 counts,
Former North Carolina senator John Edwards was acquitted of one count of corruption and a U.S. District Court judge declared a mistrial on five other counts after the jury deadlocked in the sensational case against a onetime rising political star — and it is unlikely he will be tried again on the charges.
As he left the courtroom Thursday in Greensboro, N.C., Edwards thanked the jurors for “their diligence” and spoke with apparent contrition.
“I want to make sure that everyone hears from me and from my voice that while I do not believe I did anything illegal or ever thought I was doing something illegal, I did an awful, awful lot that is wrong,” he said, standing next to his mother, father and oldest daughter. “And there is no one else responsible for my sins.”
The Justice Department declined to comment on the outcome and whether prosecutors would seek to retry Edwards. But a source familiar with the case who wasn’t authorized to speak on the record said another prosecution was unlikely.
Marcellus McRae, a former federal prosecutor, agreed.
“The facts aren’t going to change; the law isn’t going to change,” he said. “Why should the outcome change?”
The seven-week-long trial — which included testimony about Edwards using money and subterfuge to hide his relationship with a campaign videographer — ended with an afternoon of confusion. The jury first returned to the courtroom with a decision, prompting reporters to spill out of the courthouse and sending cable news networks into overdrive.
The jury foreman then informed the judge that the panel had reached a unanimous verdict on just one count. U.S. District Judge Catherine Eagles ordered the eight men and four women back to the jury room to continue deliberations. Soon afterward, when they sent a note saying they were deadlocked, she declared a mistrial on the other five counts.
Edwards’ attorney, Abbe Lowell, had urged a mistrial, noting that the deliberations had lasted almost as long as the prosecution took to present its case.
Edwards, who twice sought the Democratic presidential nod and was nominated for vice president in 2004, had faced six felony charges that carried pris- on terms of up to five years each.
Prosecutors argued he oversaw a conspiracy to use nearly $1 million from two rich supporters to hide his pregnant mistress, Rielle Hunter, during the 2008 campaign. The government said that violated the $4,600 limit on what individuals could donate to a federal candidate in that election.
The defense responded that the money amounted to personal gifts not covered by campaign-finance law, and it said Edwards was trying to keep his ailing wife, Elizabeth, from discovering his infidelity. She died of cancer in 2010.
The jury voted unanimously to acquit Edwards on the charge of taking illegal campaign contributions in 2008 from Rachel “Bunny” Mellon. Their failure to reach accord on other charges, even after nine days of deliberations, underscored the difficulty of the government’s case.
“Trying to win a criminal conviction on complex FEC reporting matters is inherently difficult and generally not appropri- ate for criminal prosecution,” Michael Toner, a former chairman of the Federal Election Commission, said afterward.
“The entire case depends on determining his intent,” McRae said of Edwards. “Was his intent to influence the outcome of an election or was it to conceal an affair from his wife? When you have to get into mind-reading, that’s a hard case to make.”
Edwards’ notoriety also may have helped him.
“In general, it is difficult to prosecute people of some celeb- rity,” said Robert Bittman, who served as a deputy independent counsel in the investigation of President Clinton. “Frequently, you are faced with jurors who are willing to give a person like that the benefit of the doubt even when that person is the subject of some very negative information, as Edwards was in this case.”
He added, “Unlike a theft, robbery or murder, people don’t have a visceral reaction to wrongdoing in a case like this.”
When the decision came, Edwards closed his eyes and rubbed his face, according to WNCN of Raleigh, N.C., which had a reporter in the courtroom. He hugged his daughter, Cate, and his parents and whispered, “I told you this would be OK.”
At stake in the case was not only Edwards’ future but also the Justice Department’s reputation in the wake of its botched 2008 corruption case against then-Alaska senator Ted Stevens. The Stevens case collapsed when it was disclosed that prosecutors withheld key information from defense lawyers.
The case prompted rebukes from a federal judge and new leadership in a unit that handles some of the government’s most sensitive prosecutions. Last week, two Stevens prosecutors were recommended for suspensions related to misconduct.
There were no accusations of prosecutorial misconduct in the Edwards trial.