bvelliquette@heraldsun.com; 419-6632
CHAPEL HILL -- A judge has warned Andrew and Cheri Young they could go to jail if they fail to turn over a videotape that reportedly shows former presidential candidate John Edwards and Rielle Hunter engaging in sexual activities.
"If the Court finds you in civil contempt, you may be committed to jail for as long as such civil contempt continues," the order signed by N.C. Superior Court Judge Abraham Penn Jones states. "Your failure to personally appear and your failure to fully comply with this order will be grounds for civil or criminal contempt for those failures."
Jones signed the order at 2 p.m. Monday. It is the second notice to appear in court directed to the Youngs after Andrew Young failed to turn over the videotape and other photographs that Hunter claims belong to her. Hunter obtained a temporary restraining order in Orange County Superior Court last Thursday demanding return of the material.
When Maj. Charles Blackwood of the Orange County Sheriff's Office went to the Youngs' rural home northwest of Chapel Hill that Thursday afternoon to serve the temporary restraining order and retrieve the items, Andrew Young did not turn over any items, according to Blackwood.
In Jones' latest order, he wrote that when Blackwood went to the house the first time to serve the temporary restraining order, Young said he needed to consult with an attorney. Blackwood allowed him to do so. When Young failed to turn over the items to Blackwood, he said he could not immediately comply with the order, and "they would address that matter in Court before [Judge Jones] as soon as possible," the order states.
The defendants have not addressed the matter as they said they would, Jones' order states.
"Instead, it appears that at least one of the Defendants has left the State," the order states.
The Youngs have appeared live on the "Good Morning America" show in New York City yesterday and this morning to promote Andrew Young's tell-all book about Edwards, "The Politician."
Nor have the Youngs sent an attorney to address the matter, the order states.
"The record before the Court indicates that both Defendants have failed and refused to comply with the Temporary Restraining Order, and the Court finds that there is probable cause to believe that both Defendants are in civil contempt of this Court for refusal to comply with Temporary Restraining Order issued by this Court," the order states.
Jones then issued an order for them to appear in Chatham County Superior Court on Monday at 2 p.m. A deputy went to the Youngs' home last Friday afternoon to serve that notice but no one was home.
The order states that the Youngs are ordered to personally appear before the judge at 10 a.m. Friday at the Chatham County Courthouse in Pittsboro.
They are also ordered to bring with them the personal items that Hunter claims belong to her. They include the videotape that Hunter made of a private and personal nature, two other videotapes she made and personal photographs.
The Youngs could avoid turning over the items at the hearing by turning them over to the sheriff prior to the hearing as directed in the temporary restraining order, the order states.
It also orders them to bring any copies of the tapes and photographs and a complete list, including name, address, telephone and cell phone numbers, of each person who received a copy of any photograph or videotape with a description of how it was given, when it was given and or the location of each place where the videos or photographs have been deposited.
