The former senator is acquitted on one charge. But the jury was hung on five other counts, resulting in a mistrial.
Don’t expect the government to retry the case.
The news is HERE:
A mistrial has been declared in the campaign fraud trial against ex-presidential candidate John Edwards.
Jurors on Thursday acquitted John Edwards of one of six counts involving him taking money from wealthy heiress Rachel “Bunny” Mellon. They told the judge they are deadlocked on the other five charges against him.
She declared a mistrial.
The ninth day of deliberations Thursday took a confusing turn after the judge mistakenly believed the jurors had reached a verdict on all six counts. She sent them back to deliberate some more.
In about an hour they came back and said they couldn’t reach a decision on the other charges. Edwards was accused of using money from wealthy donors to hide his pregnant mistress as he ran for president in 2008.
If Edwards could not be convicted, in addition to the fiasco over the late Senator Ted Stevens, then most of the campaign finance laws enacted since the 1970s should be repealed since they are (basically) irrelevant, unenforceable, and probably unconstitutional.
I am troubled that at least five (alternate) jurors were playing games and flirting. Before deciding not to retry, the U.S. Attorney should review the conduct of the jury and determine whether something was going on.