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Judge Carl Fox speaks with John Edwards' lawyer Jim Cooney in Raleigh on Thursday, June 16, 2011. Fox ruled that in the interest of justice Edwards will not have to testify in a case involving a purported sex tape with his mistress until after federal criminal charges against him are resolved.
RALEIGH -- RALEIGH -- John Edwards will not have to take part in a question-and-answer session under oath next week related to the legal wrangle over a videotape that purportedly shows him having sex with his mistress.
Judge Carl Fox gave Edwards a reprieve this morning in Wake County Superior Court.
Jim Cooney, a Charlotte lawyer representing Edwards, persuaded Fox that delaying the questioning would protect the former presidential candidate and senator from any possible self-incrimination in the federal criminal case against him.
Edwards, 57, was accused this month of "participating in a scheme to violate federal campaign finance laws." Prosecutors contend he improperly used campaign money to hide his pregnant mistress while he pursued his bid for the White House.
Edwards was to go behind closed doors on Monday with lawyers representing Andrew Young, his former aide who wrote a tell-all book about the 2008 presidential campaign.
Young and Rielle Hunter, the former campaign videographer with whom Edwards had an affair and fathered a child, are in a legal battle over who owns the sex tape.
"It's no secret that Andrew Young will be a witness in the criminal case," said David Pishko, an attorney for Young.
Any information Young's attorneys obtained in a question-and-answer session under oath related to the civil lawsuit could be turned over to federal prosecutors in the criminal case.
"As much as I don't like the idea of staying, I think it's absolutely necessary in the interest of justice," Fox said.
Cooney said that Edwards had already answered all but 70 of 2,200 questions that Young's attorneys asked during a six-hour deposition in February. The questions unanswered by Edwards, Cooney argued, were not relevant to the case.
Young's attorney argued otherwise.
Hunter sued Young in January 2010 contending the sex tape was hers.
Young has argued he found the tape while packing boxes in the home that he and his wife shared with Hunter just outside Chapel Hill.
Embedded in the questions that Edwards did not answer, Cooney told Fox today, issues about discussions he had with Fred Baron and Rachel "Bunny" Mellon, a wealthy Texan and Virginian who are at the crux of allegations by federal prosecutors.
"All of these questions are undoubtedly squarely within what the government is charging," said Cooney.
"I'm not suggesting any subterfuge here," he added.
Edwards acknowledged outside a federal courthouse earlier this month that he had been a cad. But he added that he did not break any laws.
The federal trial, initially set for July, has been postponed until at least October and more likely January, Cooney said.
Young's attorney said his client, too, might find himself in a situation similar to Edwards. Though Young has not been charged federally in connection with the campaign allegations against Edwards, Pishko said he might be in front of Fox some time soon asking him to postpone any depositions of Young until after the criminal proceedings.
