Thread: Edwards jury reaches verdict on only one of six counts

Edwards jury reaches verdict on only one of six counts

Thu May 31, 2012 3:22pm EDT

GREENSBORO, North Carolina (Reuters) - The jury deliberating in the criminal trial of former U.S. Senator John Edwards has reached a unanimous verdict on only one of the six counts against the North Carolina politician, the jury foreman said on Thursday.

U.S. District Judge Catherine Eagles said she would decide within minutes whether to order the jury to continue deliberating on the remaining counts. The two-time Democratic presidential candidate faces federal campaign finance charges stemming from his 2008 presidential bid.

Edwards jury reaches verdict on only one of six counts | Reuters

May 31, 2012 3:08 PM

After reaching verdict on only 1 count, judge sends John Edwards jury back for deliberations

ByLucy Madison

(CBS News) After nine days of deliberations, a jury announced on Thursday it had reached a verdict on only one of six campaign finance corruption charges against John Edwards. But instead of hearing the verdict, the judge sent the jurors back to continue deliberations on the other five counts.

The jury said it had reached a unanimous vote on count three, which charges that Edwards had accepted and received illegal campaign contributions in 2008 from Rachel "Bunny" Mellon.

But the jury did not seem to have reached a verdict on count two, which charged that Edwards had accepted and received illegal campaign contributions in from Mellon in 2007.

The former North Carolina senator, two-time presidential candidate and 2004 Democratic vice presidential nominee, was indicted in a federal court last June on six counts alleging his complicity in a scheme to cover up an extramarital affair and its resulting pregnancy while he was running for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination.

The indictment against Edwards charged that nearly $1 million worth of contributions provided by prominent Edwards donors Rachel "Bunny" Mellon and Fred Baron, which went toward helping former Edwards mistress Rielle Hunter and their child, amounted to campaign contributions because they were made with the purpose of protecting Edwards' presidential candidacy.

The Edwards campaign did not file the more than $900,000 as campaign contributions, and Baron said before his death in 2008 that he had provided the funds on his own, without telling Edwards. The money was not given to Edwards or Hunter directly, but rather funneled through several different people, including a former aide, Andrew Young, who at one point attempted to help Edwards cover up the affair with Hunter by claiming paternity of Hunter's child with Edwards. Young used much of the money to pay for the construction of a $1.6 million home for his family.

Pivotal to the prosecution's case is proving that the funds did qualify as campaign contributions and that Edwards accepted them with the knowledge that in doing so he was breaking the law.

After reaching verdict on only 1 count, judge sends John Edwards jury back for deliberations - CBS News