BY BETH VELLIQUETTE
bvelliquette@heraldsun.com; 419-6632
PITTSBORO -- To the applause of family and friends, a judge purged Andrew and Cheri Young of contempt of court Friday, and the couple left the courtroom, free to go home.
But the judge, Abraham Penn Jones, warned the couple that if he finds out they lied, they will pay the price.
"I hope to God you're telling the truth, because if it turns out I'm wrong, you're going to pay for it," Jones warned.
"If it comes out that you lied to this court, I want you to know that I still have the authority and discretion to refer this matter to the district attorney," Jones said, referring to a potential perjury charge in criminal court.
Friday's proceedings in the Chatham County Courthouse were similar to Tuesday's hearing, with Rielle Hunter's attorneys trying to point out discrepancies in the Youngs' testimonies and saying the judge should not purge them of contempt, and the Youngs' attorneys saying that the couple had done everything they could to find and turn over every item in the court order.
Rielle Hunter, who was John Edwards' mistress during his Democratic presidential campaign and bore an out-of-wedlock baby to the married former U.S. senator, filed and received a temporary restraining order on Jan. 20 ordering the Youngs to turn over a private and personal videotape and eight personal photographs. When a deputy went to their Orange County home, Andrew Young refused to turn over the items.
Jones later found Young and his wife in contempt of court and said that if they didn't turn over the items, he would put them in jail for 75 days. During hearing after hearing, the Youngs slowly turned over the items, but the list of materials grew longer as it was revealed that the Youngs had made copies and shown the Edwards sex tape or portions of it to various news producers and writers.
Through seven affidavits filed by Andrew Young, the story changed about where the items were located. For example, at first he said a copy of the sex tape was in an Atlanta lockbox, but it turned out it was in a closet in their home.
On Tuesday, the Youngs were given one last chance to look for a copy of a flash drive and a disc containing personal photographs that Hunter took. On Friday, their attorney, Robert Elliot, told the judge that when they last had the flash drive in California, the Youngs were on the run with Hunter to hide from the media.
"During all that time I'm talking about, their life was utter chaos," Elliot said. "He was being threatened, at least implicitly, by powerful people, and he didn't know what to do."
Hunter's attorneys again questioned the Youngs while they were on the stand. At times, it got testy when attorney Alan Duncan asked Andrew Young why he didn't just give the photographs and videotape back to Hunter, especially now that his book had been published.
"If your client and John Edwards are willing to take back that they called me a liar, I will be glad to walk away," Young said. "They started this fight."
Young said Edwards and his wife Elizabeth and Hunter had gone out of their way to destroy him.
He told Duncan that he wanted to keep the items because in two or three years, Edwards might come after him.
However, when Cheri Young took the stand, she said she didn't want the photos or tapes anymore.
During the examination, Young refused to say under oath that his book, "The Politician," was accurate.
Young also said he had no plans to sell the sex tape, although he admitted at one point when they were especially angry at Edwards, that he considered it and even discussed it with potential buyers. But he said they had thought better of it and have no plan to sell the tape.
"I had two years to sell this thing," he said. "I could have sold it for $2 million and I didn't."
After the hearing, Young said he and his wife were happy with the judge's decision and eager to move forward in the case, where a jury will decide who actually owns the photographs and tape and whether he and his wife invaded Hunter's privacy.
