GREENSBORO, North Carolina (Reuters) - The North Carolina jury deciding whether former U.S. Senator John Edwards violatedfederal election laws during his 2008 presidential bid entered its fourth day of deliberations on Wednesday after it requested a closer look at some evidence.
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| US Court Edwards 2012 PMG |
Jurors late on Tuesday asked to see trial exhibits that might explain the intent behind donor money used to support and conceal Edwards' pregnant mistress Rielle Hunter as he sought the 2008Democratic presidential nomination.
Prosecutors accused Edwards, 58, of trying to salvage his campaign by orchestrating a plot that funneled more than $900,000 from two wealthy supporters to Hunter, and a political aide who falsely admitted paternity of the child Edwards fathered with Hunter.
The defense said the one-term U.S. senator from North Carolinaand two-time presidential hopeful lied to his family but did not break the law.
The donor payments were intended as personal gifts to keep Edwards' wife from learning of the continuing affair and pregnancy and were not intended to influence the election, according to the defense.
Edwards, who faces possible prison time and fines if convicted of any of six felony counts in the case, has been waiting for a verdict with his family at the federal courthouse in Greensboro.
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