Edwards Walks; Not Guilty On One Charge, Mistrial (Hung Jury) on All Others

Last Update: Scumbaggery wins. It often does. Until it doesn't.

Unresolved: Will Edwards now start dating the alternate juror he flirted with?

Gif thanks to "Rex Harrison's Hat."

Update II: I was going to leave this as the top thread until the verdict was read, but now it seems like it will be a long time before that happens.

I'm going back to blogging, and will bump this if/when a verdict is read.

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Update: Well, rumors of a verdict were greatly overstated.

There are six counts against Edwards, and they're hung on five. They have a verdict on one (or possibly "at least one").

It looks like that Allen charge will be read after all, and the jury will have to go back to chambers and argue this out.

Though I assume the Democrats on the jury will stay firm.

They have a verdict on count 3 -- illegal contributions from Bunny Mellon in excess of $2300 (the cap). But we don't know what that verdict is.

Seems he obviously did that, no?

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It had previously been speculated (FoxNews tells me) that this would result in a hung jury, and that an Allen Charge -- an admonition by the judge to do their duty and reach a verdict, given all the expense of the case -- would need to be read.

But they have a verdict, or, rather, several verdicts, I guess, as there are multiple charges against Edwards, involving illegal diversion of campaign money for improper purposes and conspiracy to do same.

What the Jury Asked To See: A handwritten note from Bunny Mellon stating she wanted to handle her, um, donations without government knowledge, and a check written with the notation "To save America."

Reason: I think it's the defense's argument that these moneys were just personal gifts, not campaign donations.

The check noted "To save America" indicates the moneys had a political purpose, and thus were campaign contributions, which should have been reported.

However, don't read too much into that. In the OJ case, the jurors asked to hear the testimony of the limo driver who waited for like an hour for OJ (while he was cleaning up after committing murder). This was damning evidence -- demonstrating a lack of alibi, and whereabouts unknown during/shortly after the murders.

But the jury only asked to hear that again so they could invent arguments for themselves as to why it proved nothing.

Edwards Walks; Not Guilty On One Charge, Mistrial (Hung Jury) on All Others&bodytext=Last Update: Scumbaggery wins. It often does. Until it doesn't. Unresolved: Will Edwards now start dating the alternate juror he flirted with? Gif thanks to "Rex Harrison's Hat." Update II: I was going to leave this as the top thread...&topic=world_news"> posted by Ace at 04:53 PM

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