John Edwards Is Not Going To Jail

The prosecution of former presidential candidate John Edwards is officially a waste of time and federal resources. The jury in his campaign finance fraud trial found him not guilty on one count and couldn’t reach a decision on the other five.

There was a bit of confusion earlier in the courtroom, when the judge thought the jury had reached a verdict on all six charges, and there was a bit of confusion on the Internet, which pushed word that Edwards had been found guilty. But neither was true!

After the mistrial was declared, Edwards — who had been accused of violating the law and using campaign funds in service of supporting the lifestyle of Rhielle Hunter, his mistress — appeared outside the courthouse with his daughter and parents:

Speaking afterward outside the courtroom, Edwards said after a mistrial was declared in his case that while he does not believe he did anything illegal, “I did an awful, awful lot that was wrong. There is no one else responsible for my sins.”

Edwards expressed gratitude to his family — “including my precious Quinn,” the daughter he had with the mistress at the center of the charges — and thanked the jurors for their hard work. “Thank goodness that we live in a country that has the kind of system that we have,” he said.

The verdict followed nine days of deliberation.