Ex-U.S. Senator Edwards’s Trial Delayed by Heart Condition
January 18, 2012, 2:56 PM ESTBy Sophia Pearson and John Peragine
(Updates with cardiologist report in fourth paragraph.)
Jan. 13 (Bloomberg) -- Former U.S. Senator John Edwards won’t face trial until March on charges of violating campaign finance laws because he has a heart condition, a judge said.
U.S. District Judge Catherine Eagles in Greensboro, North Carolina, spoke about Edwards’s heart condition briefly before closing her courtroom during a hearing today on whether to grant his request for a delay. The trial will be postponed until at least March 26, she said.
Edwards, 58, filed papers last month seeking a two-month delay in his case because of an unanticipated illness. Edwards didn’t identify the medical issue in his request, and court papers detailing the condition have been sealed in the case.
The former presidential candidate, who was in court today, was diagnosed with the condition last month and is currently taking medication, Eagles said, summarizing a letter from his cardiologist. The doctor said moving ahead with a trial now would reduce the success of Edwards’s treatment, the judge said. She said she wanted an update on his condition by the end of February.
Edwards was scheduled to go on trial Jan. 30 on charges he violated campaign finance laws in an effort to hide an extramarital affair with filmmaker Rielle Hunter, with whom he fathered a child.
Prosecutors allege Edwards, a Democrat from North Carolina, used more than $925,000 in contributions during his presidential bid in 2007 to conceal the relationship. He withdrew from the race in January 2008.
The case is U.S. v. Edwards, 1:11-cr-00161, U.S. District Court, Middle District of North Carolina (Greensboro).
--Editors: Peter Blumberg, Charles Carter
To contact the reporter on this story: Sophia Pearson in Philadelphia at spearson3@bloomberg.net; John Peragine in Greensboro, North Carolina, at drjohnnd@hotmail.com
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Michael Hytha mhytha@bloomberg.net
