John Edwards's former mistress sues Andrew Young for return of 'very private' videotape

[cali]

The sordid saga of John Edwards just got messier: The disgraced politician's former mistress, Rielle Hunter, has taken legal action to retrieve a "very private and personal" videotape from former Edwards aide Andrew Young, according to court documents obtained by the Associated Press.

"In or about September 2006, using my video camera, I authored a personal video recording that depicted matters of a very private and personal nature," Hunter wrote in an affidavit filed Thursday in North Carolina. "In 2006, I was also having an intimate relationship with Edwards." Hunter says she tried to destroy the video a few months later -- by pulling the tape out of the cassette -- and stored it in a box with personal belongings.

In Young's cringe-inducing campaign tell-all "The Politician," in bookstores on Saturday, he claims to have found a damaged tape marked "special" in a box of trash while cleaning out a house he had rented for Hunter. After re-spooling the tape, he watched it . . . only to find Edwards and a "visibly pregnant" woman, who wore jewelry identical to things Hunter would typically wear, doing something explicit.

<snip>

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/reliable-source/2010/01/john_edwardss_former_mistress.html

[Brickbat]

1. What a sad, ugly mess this has turned into. The only consolation I have is that

Edwards isn't president as this is all happening.

[cali]

3. the whole thing has gone beyond tragedy and into comedy as far as I'm concerned

[Chemisse]

8. I wish I could find it funny

But I really don't. It would be if it weren't for Elizabeth being such a nice person who is also dying of cancer. The whole thing is sad and John Edwards is just pathetic.

[marmar]

9. Yep. It's entered Jerry Springer territory.

nt

[Brickbat]

15. All I can think about is the poor kid.

That kind of tempers it. That, and when I think about the money and time I spent on that dog.

[Haole Girl]

2. That's it... draw even more attention to it Rielle

:eyes:

[Maru Kitteh]

43. Do you worry after Ms. Hunter's well-being, or is that you imagine JE to be some weak & noble victim

??

[blue neen]

4. There was already enough proof on Edwards and Hunter.

I can't understand why it was necessary for Young to release the video tape. That makes him just as guilty as everybody else in this whole, sick mess.

[Oregone]

7. Did he release the tape?

I didn't hear anything like that. I thought he only mentioned he took it as a sort of "life insurance". Her lawsuit only confirms its existence and that he is telling the truth.

[blue neen]

28. Honestly, I don't know.

I am assuming that he did, because he is the one who found it. Wouldn't it have been better to give it back? I just keep thinking about Edwards' children.

[Oregone]

31. "Wouldn't it have been better to give it back?"

Not if you thought you may be killed for knowing too much. That was the explanation I read earlier from him. He made copies and put one in a safe deposit box and gave one to his lawyer in case of death.

I thought he was looney when I read that yesterday. But today, this lawsuit sheds some new light

[blue neen]

53. I don't know. After watching 20/20 last night,

I'm a little skeptical of some of Young's motives and explanations. It all still comes down to this, though: Edwards really, really has made a mess out of a lot of people's lives. Thank God he is not the President.

[BeyondGeography]

5. Edwards...

:dunce:

[no_hypocrisy]

6. Uncertain she has any right to its return.

She abandoned the personal property for eight months and didn't have legal possession or title of the premises where the personal property had been left behind. Would have been different if she had stored it in a storage locker with a monthly fee in her name.

[Vinca]

13. That was my thought: abandoned property.

She needs to hope Young doesn't auction the thing off.

[Maru Kitteh]

44. very good points, all

[tularetom]

10. This thread is useless without videotape

:)

[Submariner]

29. Yup.....those DU'ers posting around us on this thread are all talk and NO TAPE

tularetom and the submariner aren't buying your story. we need video or photo clips }(

[goldcanyonaz]

11. So, the tape does exist. Maybe she's getting a cut of the books sales.

[TheWraith]

12. She claims it was a tape she tried to destroy...

...he says it was an unlabeled DVD. Somebody's not being honest.

[Raine]

40. I think she left it there on purpose

so it would be found and seen and the truth of the affair would come out, she seems like a real operator.

[JNelson6563]

50. The article says

..he claims to have found a damaged tape marked "special" in a box of trash while cleaning out a house he had rented for Hunter. After re-spooling the tape....

Seems to me it was a tape and there was an attempt to destroy if it had to be re-spooled.

Julie

[asjr]

14. Give the damn thing back to her but

burn it first. This stuff is sickening!

[LisaM]

16. Who records stuff like this?

Why do so many people involved in these seamy scandals TAPE it?

[goldcanyonaz]

22. narcissism.

[earth mom]

17. I wonder how much Young was asking for it in blackmail? nt

[cali]

19. I imagine if he was using it for blackmail, he would have been paid off

[earth mom]

24. Not if Young was asking way too much. Edwards is rich, but not that rich.

Don't forget Edward is a lawyer and probably figures the law will side with him and his girlfriend.

[avaistheone1]

37. I think Young should ask a lot for it.

Rielle shook down Edwards well. Now its Young's turn to shake down Rielle.

[Kalyke]

54. How did Rielle shake down Edwards?

By making him pay child support for his child?

I guess you think any woman who asks for child support is "shaking down" the father?

:shrug:

[FarCenter]

18. Media expert doesn't know how to destroy a tape?

[itsrobert]

20. That tape belongs to Elizabeth Edwards and her legal team

That is all.

[cali]

21. she hardly needs it. n/t

[TexasObserver]

25. The tape is discoverable by Elizabeth's attorneys, and they should move for it.

They should also take Reille's deposition to authenticate the tape. Make it evidence. Make John and Reille move to seal the records. Make those two come in, say "yeah, that's us, doing it while Elizabeth was fighting cancer and John was meeting with campaign supporters."

Reille will likely get ultimate possession of the tape. Contrary to the old mangled saying possession is not 9/10 of the law. Possession is nine points of the law, but possession does not equal ownership, particularly of personalty of this nature.

[FarCenter]

27. At least she would get the orginal tape -- How about all the copies?

[TexasObserver]

30. She might be able to get all copies, eventually.

This is an area of law that has changed significantly in many jurisdictions over the past ten years. The rights to privacy of such video recordings are generally increased. The expectation of privacy of the person who made the tape, the knowledge and consent of the other person, and the efforts by them to keep the tape private would be factors.

Suppose the evidence shows that Reille showed the tape to Young, then told him he could have it. That would enable Young to keep the tape. Suppose she threw the tape away. If he got it out of the trash bag as it set by the curb, he might be able to maintain a claim to ownership. However, if she threw it in the trash in her home and he pulled it out of the trash there, he likely wouldn't be able to make the same claim of ownership.

I don't think Young intended to be able to keep the tape. He's about selling his book right now, and this really helps him sell it. He won't fight to keep it. He'll wait and see what Elizabeth's lawyers do. They're probably filing motions within a week to preserve the tape and get copies of it. If she ever gets all the copies, it won't be until the case is over.

This is the kind of evidence parties like John Edwards pay milliions extra to avoid having surface in court. He's so screwed.

[Maru Kitteh]

46. Ah yes. And North Carolina is an "at fault" state. JE is toasted like Wonderbread in hell.

[avaistheone1]

23. I am wondering why Rielle Hunter made that tape in the first place? Hmm...

[mindfulNJ]

32. Why did Monica keep the blue dress?

To think this scumbag might have been president...:puke:

[avaistheone1]

35. Yes, I think Rielle kept it for the same reasons as Monica.

Rielle is a quiet a winner too. Not very classy on her part.

[Maru Kitteh]

47. Yeah. As opposed to John, who's just oozing class out of every orifice.

[Haole Girl]

26. The reason Elizabeth should get a very large settlement is for her children.

And she should set up their inheritance in a trust-- so nobody else can get their hands on it.

[Bonhomme Richard]

33. Someone has to explain to me the idea of videotaping.....

a sexual encounter. Maybe it's me but I don't get it. Married.....maybe, but if I were a woman and a guy wanted to videotape us having sex or me naked I would run for the hills. It would tell me that his head was in a very bad place and trust me, I'm no prude. Being a guy and the woman wanted to tape it then I would really wonder and being a celebrity I would, again, run like hell.

[avaistheone1]

36. You would think

at Rielle's age, you would think she would have known better. I think she wanted this video for insurance, not for intimate memories.

[Maru Kitteh]

48. I think John wanted it for a masturbation aid.

I also think it's cool you know the mind of his groupies. That's awesome.

[FrenchieCat]

34. I don't think this can get anymore sordit.....

but I guess I could be wrong.

[dysfunctional press]

38. if the tape was thrown in the trash, how can she claim ownership?

i think that the precedent was set in the case of Finders v. Keepers.

[Raine]

41. She's claiming it wasn't in the trash but in a hatbox

so I guess that's where the ownership claim would come in.

[Maru Kitteh]

49. If she abandoned the property, it could have been in a Faberge egg

and it wouldn't matter.

[tonysam]

39. Hidden thread number 17

Sheesh.

[Maru Kitteh]

42. How will any threads survive without you?

[JNelson6563]

51. Helpful hint

There are certain posters who absolutely love to post national enquirer stuff. It's easier to put those posters on ignore than to just keep hiding their threads.

Julie--here to help

[goldcanyonaz]

57. The National Enquirer was right about Edwards, it's no longer just and NE story.

[Withywindle]

45. I believe Young on this ground alone:

"by pulling the tape out of the cassette -- and stored it in a box with personal belongings."

She was a professional filmmaker and videographer - that's how they met, right, she was filming his campaigns?

And yet, as late as 2006, she was claiming they were still using VIDEOTAPE?

I think not. By 2006, pretty much the only use for "videotape" in the real world was for old people recording their TV shows on increasingly creaky VCRs. I believe Young just because he said it was an unmarked DVD - which was surely the medium she would have used.

"Sex tape" is anachronistic.

[Gin]

52. the whole thing is like a Jerry Springer episode...I have no

regard for any of them....prostitutes...that's what they all are...for money & power.

The only ones who have my sympathy are the Edward's kids (pre-mistress) who have to see and hear all of this disgusting information.

[SallyMander]

55. The most shocking thing aboutt this story

is that they were still using VHS cassette tape?! Really??? :rofl:

[MilesColtrane]

56. Funny... Young didn't mention the Dobermans, trapeze, whips, or the clown suit.