|
Politico May 18, 2012 By Josh Gerstein GREENSBORO, N.C. The prosecution in the campaign finance violation trial of formerSen. John Edwards argued to the jury on Thursday that he betrayedhis populist message when he arranged for wealthy donors to coverup the extramarital affair that jeopardized his 2008 bid for theWhite House. "He talked about two Americas. One with money, power andinfluence and the other one with little money, little power andlittle influence," prosecutor Robert Higdon told the juryduring closing arguments that finished Thursday afternoon."John Edwards forgot about his own rhetoric." Defense lawyers countered that the government was trying tocriminalize the consequences of cheating on one"s spouse andthat prosecutors had sought to use the court proceedings to try tohumiliate Edwards over a moral failing. "If what John did here [was a crime], then we better build alot more courtrooms, hire a lot more prosecutors and build a lotmore prisons, because the government will always be able to turn anaffair into a federal crime," lead defense lawyer Abbe Lowelltold jurors. Edwards faces six felony counts stemming from an alleged scheme toobtain unreported, illegal campaign donations of nearly $1 millionby soliciting money from wealthy backers of his 2008 presidentialbid and using the funds to pay housing, travel costs and medicalexpenses for his mistress, Rielle Hunter. The money never reached Edwards" campaign committee, but theprosecution contends the payments constitute campaign contributionsbecause they were intended to advance his presidential bid byhushing up Edwards"s affair with Hunter and her ensuingpregnancy with Edwards" child. "Mr. Edwards knew very well what was going on," Higdonargued. "The whole scheme was cooked up to support JohnEdwards" political ambitions." Lowell said Edwards was in the dark about much of the effortrelated to Hunter and that his main motivation for keeping theaffair under wraps was to avoid angering his wife, Elizabeth. "This is a case that should define the difference betweensomeone committing a wrong and someone committing a crime …between someone committing a sin and someone committing afelony," Lowell said. Edwards "has already served alife sentence" for the breaches of trust with his family, thedefense lawyer added. The defense devoted much of its case and its argument Thursday todemolishing the credibility of the prosecution"s starwitness, Andrew Young. Young, a former Edwards aide, falsely posedas the father of the child Edwards fathered with Hunter. Young alsoreceived more than $1 million in payments from Edwards backersRachel "Bunny" Mellon and Fred Baron in 2007 and 2008,some of which was compensation for expenses incurred in hidingHunter from the media. "Would you rely on his word for one of those importantdecisions in your own life?" Lowell asked."That"s what the government is asking you to do."At one point, Lowell referred to Young and his wife, Cheri, as acouple "who would shame Bonnie and Clyde." Lowell also suggested to jurors that by acquitting Edwards theycould upend the Youngs" plans to profit from the storythrough movie rights and other means. "How inconvenient willit be for the Youngs and their future plans if you see" theirtrue motives? Lowell asked. Lead prosecutor David Harbach said it was absurd to claim thatYoung, a junior aide with a checkered reputation among Edwardsstaffers, crafted the entire scheme and obtained more than $1million from the donors without the former senator"s activeinvolvement. "Andrew Young did all this, folks? Andrew Young?…That"s nonsense," Harbach said. There was"no doubt about who was running the show," theprosecutor said. Harbach said Young"s shortcomings were apparent to Edwardsand that"s why the candidate selected him to take on thepurported role covering up the affair. "This is a guy I can throw under the bus when I"mfinished with him," Harbach said, surmising Edwards"sthinking, "And the Greyhound, folks, has been rolling throughthis courthouse for weeks." Harbach said the obvious defense strategy was "to get thejury to talk about Mr. Young and nobody else…..Don"tfall for it." Jurors, some of whom drifted off during the duller stretches of thetrial, sat attentively through the roughly two hours of argumentsfrom each side. The prosecution opened with a 90-minutepresentation by Higdon, a Raleigh, N.C.-based prosecutor withreading glasses and a bit of a Southern twang. Higdon framed the stranger-than-fiction tale in novelistic,dramatic terms. "The plan was falling apart. The seeds ofdestruction had sprouted. The weeds were growing," he toldthe jury at one point. The prosecutor spun out the sordid narrativefor more than an hour before turning to a brief description of thespecific criminal charges against Edwards. Higdon mentioned on at least three occasions Thursday thatElizabeth Edwards was ill with cancer during the 2008 campaign. Theprosecutor said at one point that John Edwards planned to end thecharade about Young being the father of Hunter"s child onceMrs. Edwards died from the illness. "Mercifully … Mrs.Edwards survived" through 2008, though that complicatedEdwards" plans to acknowledge paternity of Hunter"sdaughter, the prosecutor said. For his part, Lowell accused the prosecution of belaboring personalaspects of Edwards"s affair and of gratuitously elicitingemotional testimony about episodes like one in October 2007 whenMrs. Edwards intentionally ripped her blouse open and screamed ather husband, "You don"t see me anymore." Harbach defended the prosecution testimony about Mrs.Edwards"s chest-baring incident as "powerful evidenceof where [Mr. Edwards"s] head" was at the time. Theprosecutor noted that Edwards aide Christina Reynolds testifiedthat Mr. Edwards turned away from his wife"s dramaticoutburst and went to a campaign event. "His priority wasn"t his family. His priority was hiscampaign," Harbach argued. Lowell said Edwards"s legal team intentionally offered ashort roster of witnesses to rebut the government"s casebecause the defense wanted to keep the case focused on the allegedcampaign law violations. Lowell said that despite the more than three weeks of evidenceabout checks, hotel bills and private jet flights the jury couldquickly acquit Edwards by finding that there was a lack of evidencethat he deliberately intended to break the law. In federal casesinvolving criminal campaign finance charges, the prosecution mustshow beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant understood thelaw and intentionally broke it. "If you want a path out of all the boxes ofevidence…out of the hotel rooms….out of the creditcards for baby furniture…..you can go right to thatelement," Lowell said. While Edwards chose not to testify in his own defense, his voicerang out in the courtroom Thursday as prosecutors played audio of avoice mail message Edwards left for Young in 2008. In the message,Edwards talked about a planned meeting with Mellon to make surethat Young was "protected and included" —apparently a reference to Mellon funding an Edwards-related povertyfoundation Young hoped to head up as compensation for hiswillingness to falsely claim paternity of Edwards"s child. "Keep your head up, pal," Edwards said in the message."You can do this." Lowell also noted to the jury that the prosecution did not callHunter to testify, despite the fact that she regularly spoke withEdwards during the affair and once Hunter and Young began travelingto hide from the media. "They could have called her to thestand," the defense lawyer observed. "I suppose youwanted to see her and hear from here. I know everyone out theredid," Lowell said, gesturing to the packed gallery where thepress and public were seated. "But they did not." Lowell, a top Washington, D.C., white-collar defense lawyer whosecourtroom style during the trial has sometimes grated on U.S.District Court Judge Catherine Eagles, presented the defensesummation. During the argument, Lowell almost exclusively referred to hisclient simply as "John." The deliberately informalusage seemed aimed at painting Edwards as an ordinary guy, ratherthan a senator or presidential candidate. However, it led to someawkward verbal constructions, like "John and Mrs.Edwards." Sitting at the defense table, Edwards had a doleful expressionthroughout the presentations by both sides. However, during a breakwhen the jury was outside the courtroom, he consulted with one ofhis lawyers in what appeared to be a conversation about thereactions of jurors. The case has been peppered with subtle and not-so-subtle racial andreligious appeals to the jury. Those continued on Thursday. Lowell gestured to the Bible used to swear in witnesses and to acriminal law book on the nearby prosecution table. "Those twobooks are never on the same table," the defense lawyer said,playing up earlier arguments that punishment for Edwards"sins should be left to his family and to God. The prosecution mentioned again on Thursday that Edwards thought hecould win the Iowa caucus in 2008 because he didn"t thinkvoters in that state would vote for an African-American or a woman. After the lawyers" arguments wrapped up Thursday, Eaglesinstructed the jury on the law applicable to the case. The panel isexpected to begin deliberating Friday morning. I am an expert from ledflood-lighting.com, while we provides the quality product, such as Outdoor LED Flood Light , LED Strip Profile Manufacturer, T8 LED Tube Light,and more.
Related Articles -
Outdoor LED Flood Light, LED Strip Profile Manufacturer,
|
