GREENSBORO — The jury in the John Edwards trial on Thursday found the former presidential candidate not guilty on one of six counts in his campaign finance trial and announced it could not agree on the five remaining counts.
Judge Catherine Eagles declared a mistrial on the five counts and dismissed the jurors. It was unclear whether the government will seek another trial.
After the mistrial was declared, Edwards hugged his parents and his daughter, Cate, and members of his legal team in a quiet celebration.
Edwards’ mother, Bobbie Edwards, said, “We prayed for this and God answered our prayers.”
The jury in its ninth day of deliberations sent a note to the judge at 2:05 p.m. that said: “We have finished our deliberations and have arrived at a decision on counts one through six.”
Eagles initially misinterpreted the note as word of a final verdict, but it soon emerged that the jury’s “decision” was that jurors could not agree on five counts and did unanimously agree on count three. Eagles sent the jury back to deliberate further, but they sent word shortly after 4 p.m. that they could not agree on the five counts.
Edwards was on trial on charges of violating campaign finance laws in his run for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination.
