Trial over ownership of Edwards sex tape delayed

By MICHAEL BIESECKER
Associated Press

RALEIGH, NC (AP) — A judge has agreed to delay the civil trial over who owns a purported sex tape of John Edwards because of the former presidential candidate’s pending criminal case.

Edwards’s former mistress Rielle Hunter sued his former aide Andrew Young in 2010 over ownership of several items, including an intimate video made by the Hunter.

Edwards was indicted in June on felony charges of violating federal campaign finance laws over about $1 million provided by donors to help hide his pregnant mistress during his presidential campaign. His lawyers in that case requested a delay in the civil case out of concern information disclosed from that trial could taint his criminal case.

Orange County Superior Court Judge Carl Fox issued an order Tuesday delaying the civil trial until March 26.

(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)