John Edwards Trial Resumes With Cheri Young Explaining Paternity Scam

Posted by Cash On on 2012-04-30 0

The criminal trial of John
Edwards enters its second
week this morning with the
wife of the prosecution's star
witness expected to explain
why she allowed her husband to claim paternity for the child
Edwards fathered with his
mistress.

Cheri Young, 38, a diminutive
part-time pediatric nurse, and
the wife of former Edwards
aide Andrew Young, is
expected to re-count the
details of her role in the months long cover up of
Edwards' affair with Rielle
Hunter during his failed bid for
the presidency in 2007-08.

During her testimony today
and during later cross
examination she will likely be
grilled about why about $1
million of the alleged hush
money ended up in her family's pockets and helped
bankroll the construction of
their luxurious North Carolina
home.

She will be asked why she
agreed to take Hunter into her
home, and why she and their
three children eventually
joined her husband on a cross -
country odyssey with Hunter to escape the media.

Perhaps most controversial
will be her explanation of
why she allowed her husband
to claim paternity of Hunter's
baby with Edwards,
Mrs. Young was called to the
stand late Friday, testifying
for less than 30 minutes,
recalling how her husband
was so devoted to John and
Elizabeth Edwards that he was willing to do "anything
and everything" for the
Edwards family. It caused
strain in the Youngs' marriage,
she said, because the things he
did for the Edwards family, he rarely did for his own.

Edwards is accused of using
campaign donations to hide
his mistress. If convicted,
Edwards could be sentenced
to up to 30 years in prison.
In bitterly contested
testimony last week, Andrew
Young said he was told that
hiding Rielle Hunter was the
most important job in the
campaign, even after Edwards dropped out of the
presidential race because he
was angling for a top job,
possibly vice president or
attorney general.

Edwards' defense team laced
into Young claiming that he
used the scandal to enrich
himself. They also claimed that
Edwards used the money to
hide Hunter from his wife, not from the government or the
public.