A verdict, of sorts

Opinion: June 4, 2012 at 12:00a.m.

A verdict, of sorts

Chicago Tribune: If jurors had been asked to decide whether John Edwards was a cheating lowlife, it would have taken them 10 minutes. He fathered a child with a former campaign worker while his wife was terminally ill, then lied about it long and loud while campaigning for president of the United States. OK, five minutes.

What jurors were asked, though, was whether Edwards broke the law by using nearly $1 million in campaign contributions to cover up that affair. It took them nine days to find him not guilty on one of six counts. A judge declared a mistrial on the other five.

It’s a wholly unsatisfying verdict, especially for those who wanted to see the defendant drawn and quartered. But this reality show has been one big flop.

Missing in action

For one thing, it suffered from lack of character development. The 101-year-old heiress named “Bunny,” who routed secret payments to an Edwards aide to keep the mistress hidden, was too frail for even a cameo appearance. The billionaire Texas lawyer who paid for private jets, luxury hotels and a rented mansion in California was already dead. The Other Woman wasn’t called to testify. The defendant decided not to take the stand.

As for the plot — well, jurors couldn’t decipher it, and they tried a lot harder than the rest of us.

Prosecutors might have done a better job convincing them if they’d rehearsed their argument in previous cases. But this was the first time they’d charged such behavior as a crime. It was clearly a reach. That didn’t stop a lot of people from hoping it would succeed anyway, but it’s time to drop the case.