The defence was to begin its case this morning. Experts differ on how steep a hill the defence team must climb to ensure not guilty verdicts for the six charges against Edwards.
If they fail, he could face up to 30 years behind bars. The battle over the likeability of Edwards has surely already been decided. Still, on one afternoon near the end of the prosecution case, you might have felt a twinge of sympathy for him.
Jennifer Palmieri, now a White House deputy communications director, but who in 2008 was a consultant for the Edwards campaign, was brought to the stand. Of interest to the prosecution: her close relationship with Elizabeth Edwards, who was first in line to suffer when the truth of her husband's liaison with his campaign videographer, Rielle Hunter, came to light. The prosecution wanted to hear how she found out about the mistress, the steps that were taken to contain her and of Edwards' paternity of the child.
But it was under cross-examination that Palmieri was questioned about Edwards' death from breast cancer in December 2010. Palmieri was at her side and so was John, even though they had long been separated.
Edwards had begged Palmieri that he should be there. "Her concern was that when she died there would be a man around who had loved her," Palmieri testified before breaking down. There had been other wrenching moments. For example, when a former campaign aide recalled a distraught Edwards collapsing on the cement of an aircraft hangar after learning of her husband's infidelity and then ripping off her shirt and bra to reveal her surgery-scarred breasts and crying: "You don't see me anymore."
If there was a moment when the jury could see the defendant only as a cad, then this was it.
As the court heard of the deathbed request, those close enough could see the strain on Edward's face, his left hand cupped over his brow, the pinching of moisture from his eyes.
"I think that was one of the most powerful moments we have seen on the stand in this trial," said Hampton Dellinger, a former State Deputy Attorney-General. "She made clear that she wanted Mr Edwards by her side despite everything he had put her through."
The prosecution, Dellinger explained, faced a challenge defining the significance of the nearly US$1 million, some of which was spent keeping Hunter happy and away from the media. Some of the cash was channelled to Andrew Young, a top aide to Edwards who agreed to pretend he was the father of Hunter's child.
For charges to stick, the prosecution must show that money was accepted specifically for the purpose of the campaign and that Edwards knowingly sought it for that reason. "They have to demonstrate that he committed a knowing and wilful violation and that's a high standard. I still think whether the government answered that question is an open question," Dellinger said last week.
What the defence has not done is to try to pretend their client is an angel. That Edwards repeatedly lied to his wife, as well as to the public, is plain. Abbe Lowell, his lead lawyer, told the jury as much last week. But Lowell said there was "not one ounce of evidence" that Edwards broke the law.
It is uncertain if Lowell intends to put Edwards on the stand or, indeed, Hunter, who has not been seen in the courtroom. If he calls either, it will be standing room only in Greensboro.
- Independent
