Reuters: Politics: Jury set to deliberate in case of ex-Senator Edwards

Reuters: Politics Reuters.com is your source for breaking news, business, financial and investing news, including personal finance and stocks. Reuters is the leading global provider of news, financial information and technology solutions to the world's media, financial institutions, businesses and individuals. // via fulltextrssfeed.com

Jury set to deliberate in case of ex-Senator Edwards May 18th 2012, 10:36 Tweet Share this Email Print Related News Ex-Senator Edwards tried to bypass campaign law: prosecutor Thu, May 17 2012 Arguments due in ex-US Senator Edwards' campaign finance case Thu, May 17 2012 Lawyers for ex-Senator John Edwards rest case Wed, May 16 2012 Former Senator Edwards' defense starts its case Mon, May 14 2012 Edwards trial judge refuses to dismiss case Fri, May 11 2012 Analysis & Opinion In Gupta case, new filings crystallize prosecution's challenge Former U.S. Senator John Edwards, 58, walks to the federal courthouse in Greensboro, N.C., May 7, 2012. Credit: Reuters/Davis Turner By Wade Rawlins GREENSBORO, North Carolina | Fri May 18, 2012 6:36am EDT GREENSBORO, North Carolina (Reuters) - A jury in North Carolina is set to begin deliberations on Friday morning in the federal political corruption trial of former U.S. Senator John Edwards, who is charged with accepting excessive campaign funds to conceal his extramarital affair while he ran for president. "Even with all John has done â€" his family, legal career, running for president, this is, of course, the most important day of his life," Edwards' defense attorney Abbe Lowell said on Thursday as both prosecutors and defense lawyers delivered closing arguments. The jury must decide if Edwards, 58, orchestrated a cover-up to keep voters from learning of his pregnant mistress during his 2008 bid for the Democratic presidential nomination. Prosecutors say the plot resulted in more than $900,000 from two wealthy donors being secretly funneled to Edwards' mistress, Rielle Hunter, and his aide Andrew Young, who during the campaign falsely admitted paternity for the baby Edwards had fathered. "Mr. Edwards clearly knew the law and decided to violate it to salvage his campaign," prosecutor Robert Higdon told jurors on Thursday. "We believe overwhelming evidence has been presented that will allow you to convict Edwards on all counts." The defense says Edwards, who maintains his innocence, did not seek or accept the money. They say the payments were personal gifts meant to keep the affair and Hunter's pregnancy concealed from Edwards' cancer-stricken wife, Elizabeth. "As many are his moral wrongs, he has not committed a legal one," Lowell said Thursday. "There is not the remotest chance that John violated federal campaign laws, let alone felonies." The former senator for North Carolina faces a total of six felony counts on charges including conspiring to solicit the money, receiving more than the $2,300 allowed from any one donor and failing to report the payments as contributions. Each count carries a sentence of up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. (Editing By Corrie MacLaggan and W Simon) Tweet this Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints We welcome comments that advance the story through relevant opinion, anecdotes, links and data. If you see a comment that you believe is irrelevant or inappropriate, you can flag it to our editors by using the report abuse links. Views expressed in the comments do not represent those of Reuters. For more information on our comment policy, see http://blogs.reuters.com/fulldisclosure/2010/09/27/toward-a-more-thoughtful-conversation-on-stories/ Comments (0) Be the first to comment on reuters.com. Add yours using the box above.

You are receiving this email because you subscribed to this feed at blogtrottr.com. If you no longer wish to receive these emails, you can unsubscribe from this feed, or manage all your subscriptions