Greensboro, N.C.- After a protracted deliberation, the jury finally ruled former John Edwards not-guilty on using campaign finances to hide his then pregnant mistress from the media eye Thursday afternoon. Judge Catherine Eagles declared a mistrial for the remaining five counts.
The jury had reached their verdict Thursday morning, however only on one count. The decision was not announced until late Thursday afternoon where Edwards was found not-guilty on one count of campaign finance fraud and the rest declared a mistrial. Jury deliberation had been going on for 9 days, preceded by seven weeks trial, leaving the media and public alike anxious for the result.
Edwards told reporters, "I want to make sure that everyone hears from me and from my voice that while I do not believe I did anything illegal or ever thought I was doing something illegal, I did an awful, awful lot that is wrong."
It is unclear yet whether the Justice Department intends to retry, but according to the New York Times the department shows "no indication" of it.
In December 2008, Edwards was accused by the Justice Department of using campaign finance for personal use as well as accepting financial donations that exceeded the limit. He was indicted in June 2011.
Although Edwards walks a free man, he has certainly created a despicable image for himself in the public eye, which will make any return to politics very hard for the former senator.
