Edwards’ case ends in mistrial

Associated Press

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 campaign donors to hide his pregnant mistress while he ran for president and his wife was dying of cancer.

The six-week-long trial detailed a sordid sex scandal that ended Edwards’ political career, but prosecutors couldn’t convince jurors the candidate masterminded a $1 million cover-up of his affair with his most trusted aide.

“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.

He also said he had hope for his future.

“I don’t think God’s through with me. I really believe he thinks there’s still some good things I can do.”

Edwards would have faced up to 30 years in prison and $1.5 million in fines if convicted of all charges. He did not testify, along with his mistress, Rielle Hunter, and the two donors whose money was at issue.

Jurors acquitted him on a charge of accepting illegal campaign contributions, involving $375,000 from elderly heiress Rachel “Bunny” Mellon in 2008. He also had been charged with illegally accepting $350,000 from Mellon in 2007, other donations from wealthy Texas attorney Fred Baron, filing a false campaign-finance report and conspiracy.

The jurors, who deliberated nine days, did not talk to the media as they left the courthouse. Several media organizations, including The Associated Press, have filed a motion asking for the names to be released, but the judge has refused to release the information for at least a week.

Federal prosecutors are unlikely to retry the case, a law-enforcement official told the AP on the condition of anonymity because the decision will undergo review in the coming days

The case was thrown into confusion earlier Thursday after observers filled the courtroom expecting to hear a verdict on all six counts. Jurors had sent a note to U.S. District Court Judge Catherine Eagles, reading, “We have finished our deliberations and have arrived at our decision on counts one through six.”

But when the jury came into court, the foreman said jurors had a decision on only one count. Judge Eagles sent jurors back to deliberate. About an hour later, the jury sent another note saying it had exhausted its discussions.

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.

After Eagles declared a 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 Frances 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.”

The trial recounted the most intimate details of Edwards’ affair with Hunter, including reference to a sex tape of the two together that later was destroyed, and the drama of Edwards’ wife, Elizabeth, tearing off her shirt in front of her husband in a rage about a tabloid report of the affair.

It also featured testimony that sometimes read like a political thriller, as aide Andrew Young described meeting Edwards on a secluded road, and Edwards warning him, “you can’t hurt me.”