Lawyers for ex-Senator John Edwards rest case

GREENSBORO, North Carolina (Reuters) - Former Senator John Edwards' defense ended its case on Wednesday without calling three of the most anticipated witnesses to counter charges that he used political contributions to hide his pregnant mistress from voters during his 2008 presidential bid.

Seven people testified for the defense this week in Edwards' federal campaign finance trial in Greensboro, North Carolina, the state he represented in the Senate from 1999 to 2005.

But the defense team ultimately decided against putting Edwards, his one-time mistress or his oldest daughter on the witness stand, choosing instead to rest its case after technical testimony from a financial investigator.

The strategy stood in sharp contrast to the government's case, which wrapped up last week with a dramatic video that showed Edwards admitting on TV to his extramarital affair but falsely denying he had fathered Rielle Hunter's child.

"The defense played it safe," said Hampton Dellinger, a North Carolina lawyer who has attended the trial.

Jurors will hear closing arguments on Thursday and are expected to begin deliberations by week's end.

They must decide if Edwards, 58, masterminded a cover-up that resulted in more than $900,000 from two wealthy donors being secretly funneled to Hunter and Edwards' aide Andrew Young as the trial lawyer-turned-politician sought the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination.

Prosecutors presented nearly three weeks of evidence and two dozen witnesses in an effort to prove Edwards' guilt. They argue he solicited the money to protect his image, knowing revelations that he was cheating on his cancer-stricken wife, Elizabeth, would doom his White House chances.

The defense says Edwards, who maintains his innocence, did not seek or accept the money. They say the payments were personal, not political, in nature, and were intended to keep the affair and pregnancy concealed from Elizabeth Edwards.

John Edwards, the Democrats' 2004 vice presidential nominee, faces potential prison time and a fine if convicted of any of six counts, including conspiring to solicit the money, accepting more than the $2,300 allowed from any one donor and failing to report the payments as contributions.

DEFINING CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTIONS

Defense witnesses bolstered Edwards' belief that the money from heiress Rachel "Bunny" Mellon and Texas trial lawyer Fred Baron didn't qualify as campaign contributions, which must be reported to federal officials and are subject to limits.

Their testimony also advanced the defense's contention that Young, who has immunity as the government's chief witness against Edwards, dreamed up the money scheme and pocketed more than $1 million from Mellon and Baron.

Young was once so close to Edwards that the aide publicly accepted responsibility for Edwards' child with Hunter in the midst of the 2008 campaign.

Lawyers on both sides of the case acknowledged on Wednesday that during Young's final confrontation with Edwards in August 2008, the ex-aide told his former boss that he possessed a private video of Edwards and Hunter.

Attorneys agreed that Young and his wife considered selling the purported sex tape but never did.

Defense attorney Abbe Lowell also detailed the likely date of conception of Hunter's baby and the earliest she could have learned she was pregnant, in an attempt to discredit Andrew Young's version of events.

Dellinger said the defense avoided potentially damaging cross examinations by keeping Edwards, Hunter and the former senator's daughter, Cate Edwards, off the witness stand.

Cate Edwards, whose mother Elizabeth died in 2010, has sat through most of the trial with John Edwards' parents but skipped the proceedings on Wednesday.

Dellinger said he expected Edwards' lawyers will use their closing argument to hone in on the evidence of how Young profited from the donor payments and the lack of testimony showing Edwards knowingly broke the law.

"That's important evidence in the defense's favor," he said.

(Reporting by Colleen Jenkins; Editing by Paul Thomasch and Cynthia Osterman)

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