A North Carolina federal jury acquitted John Edwards on one count of violating campaign finance law Thursday and remained deadlocked on the other five counts leveled against the former Democratic presidential hopeful.
U.S. District Judge Catherine Eagles declared a mistrial on the remaining counts. It will be up to prosecutors to decide whether they will refile the charges and try their luck with a different jury.
After nine days of deliberations the jury reached a unanimous verdict on only one count. They did not believe Edwards accepted illegal campaign contributions in 2008. The judge sent them back to continue to review the other five charges but they returned two hours later to announce they were unable to reach verdicts on any of the remaining charges.
CNN legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin spun the outcome this way, “This was a win for John Edward, and there will be a lot of questions about why this case was brought.”
John Edwards, with his parents and his eldest daughter by his side, made a statement after exiting the courtroom. He remarked: “I did an awful, awful lot that was wrong and there is nobody else responsible for my sins. I don’t think God is through with me. I want to dedicate myself to being the best dad I can be.”
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