John Edwards judge declares mistrial A marathon trial that pitilessly examined John Edwards" extramarital affair came to a close on Thursday as the former Democratic presidential candidate was cleared of one fraud charge with the jury deadlocked on another five. In a statement on the steps of the North Carolina courthouse after the verdict was read, Mr Edwards thanked the jury for their "diligence" and paid tribute to his children, including "precious Quinn," his daughter with one-time mistress Rielle Hunter whose paternity he long denied. IN US Politics & Policy "I want to make sure that everyone hears from me and from my voice that while I do not believe I did anything illegal, I did an awful, awful lot that was wrong and there is no one else who is responsible for my sins," he said. I don't think God is through with me. I really believe he thinks there are still good things I can do. The North Carolina jury that heard the Edwards case could not agree on five criminal conspiracy and fraud charges, prompting Judge Catherine Eagles to declare a mistrial. The verdict represented a victory for Mr Edwards and a stunning defeat for the Department of Justice, which has come under intense scrutiny for misconduct in another high-profile political trial involving the now-deceased former senator Ted Stevens. From the moment Mr Edwards was indicted last year over claims he used nearly $1m from political donors to conceal an extramarital relationship, campaign finance and legal experts have expressed deep scepticism about prosecutors" decision to pursue the case because of the complicated nature of the legal questions at the heart of the trial and murky rules on what constitutes a political donation. The legal showdown was not short on drama. It included revealing testimony about how Mr Edwards" affair with Ms Hunter caused havoc on the 2008 campaign trail and devastated his dying wife, Elizabeth. Mr Edwards inspired such devotion from his one-time aide, Andrew Young, that Mr Young - a prime witness for the prosecution - pretended that he was the father of Mr Edwards" child with Ms Hunter in order to protect the former senator. Mr Young's testimony was tainted by evidence that he benefited from some of the funds in question, using the money to build his dream house in North Carolina. But after weeks of colourful and sometimes tragic testimony, the case turned on a more mundane question: whether Mr Edwards knowingly used campaign funds from two campaign donors to hide his relationship with Ms Hunter, or whether the money was a gift from friends who were simply trying to clean up the candidate's personal mess. Mr Edwards" defence team, led by famed attorney Abbe Lowell, painted Mr Young as the mastermind behind efforts to use more than $700,000 from Rachel "Bunny" Mellon - "Bunny Money" - to cover up the relationship and pay for a $20,000 per month mansion in California for Ms Hunter.