National Earthquake Information Center geophysicist Amy Vaughan says the quake happened at 3:12 a.m. Thursday and had a magnitude of 4.3. It was centered near Timpson, Texas.

Shelby County Sheriff's dispatcher Jacob Allen says the only injury reported they've received is an elderly woman who fell out of her bed and cut her arm. Allen says the quake caused broken windows and fallen dishes, but no major damage has been reported.

Vaughan says the quake was felt within 75 miles of its epicenter. She also said the same area was the site of a 3.9 magnitude quake on May 10.

His lawyers argue, however, that prolonged solitary confinement is contributing to a vicious cycle, making his psychiatric conditions worse and resulting in misbehavior that warrants further punishment.

Prison officials defend the practice, saying administrative segregation, which can include up to 23 hours a day alone in a concrete cell, is a fundamental part of security.

Art Leonardo, executive director of the North American Association of Wardens and Superintendents, says keeping prisoners away from the general population is a way to "keep them from being harmed."

But prisoners' rights advocates around the nation say putting mentally ill inmates in long-term solitary confinement amounts to cruel and unusual punishment. In some states, activists are pushing court challenges to get convicts, such as Anderson, out of isolation.

"People with mental illness suffer horribly in solitary confinement," said David Fathi, director of the American Civil Liberties Union's National Prison Project.

Anderson, represented by University of Denver law students, last week appeared before a federal judge in Denver to ask for better medication for conditions said to lead to panic attacks. He's also asking to be let outside three times a week.

Colorado Department of Corrections spokeswoman Katherine Sanguinetti says prison officials use isolation "to maintain offender and staff safety."

Inmates' rights activists might concede that temporary isolation has its place, but Anderson's lawyers say he has been in solitary for 12 years, and it's not helping.

Long-term isolation has "become an integral part of how we manage prisons in this country," Fathi said.

The National Prison Project has handled about 10 cases in the last dozen years dealing with mentally ill inmates indefinitely kept in isolation, Fathi said.

There are no statistics detailing how many of the more than 218,000 federal prison inmates are considered mentally ill. Similarly, there is no official estimate as to how many inmates are placed in solitary confinement.

U.S. Bureau of Justice statistics show that in 2010 there were more than 1.4 million inmates in state prisons. However, there are no official estimates for how many state prisoners are mentally ill or in isolation.

Cases involving inmates such as Anderson, convicted of attempted murder in 2000, are coming with increasing regularity, inmates' rights advocates say. The outcomes have been varied.

Lawyers on behalf of a North Carolina inmate with severe paranoid schizophrenia, depression and borderline personality disorder argued last year that a decade of solitary confinement, which sometimes included being shackled inside his cell, worsened his conditions considerably.

But a judge ruled against them, and Michael A. Williams remains in isolation.

A federal jury in January awarded $22 million to a New Mexico inmate who extracted a tooth by hand, rocking it back and forth in the socket for hours, after going without medical or dental care while in solitary confinement for two years.

Stephen Slevin had been isolated because he was depressed and someone checked a box on a form indicating he was suicidal, according to his attorney.

A pending class action lawsuit headed by a South Carolina advocacy group says the state has been punishing mentally ill inmates without giving them enough access to psychiatric care.

One of the four prisoners represented in the suit spent nearly 24 hours a day in his cell for 16 years and saw a counselor only once a month, according to court documents.

Defense lawyers, in closing arguments in March, said South Carolina prison officials are doing their best to treat mentally ill inmates with the limited money they receive from the state.

A judge is considering the case.

Psychiatrist Stuart Grassian says that long-term isolation for prisoners who need psychiatric help is counterproductive. He says the typical approach from prison officials — "if you punish bad behavior, it'll eventually get better" — does not work for mentally ill inmates without proper medical treatment.

Leonardo, head of the prison officials group, says that while isolation is not ideal, administrative segregation is the best way to manage inmates who pose a threat and need special care.

"A number of years ago, we began in this country to stop institutionalizing people who had mental illnesses. We just put them in jail. Jails really are not prepared or staffed in most cases to deal with them."

Laura Rovner, a law professor at the University of Denver whose students helped represent Anderson, says part of the reason behind the push for more lawsuits are mental health advocates proclaiming that isolation practices do not work.

"Being put in isolation," Rovner said, "is likely going to make you worse."

A day after Josephine County voters resoundingly turned thumbs down on a levy to plug a $12 million budget gap, the sheriff and district attorney began handing out pink slips Wednesday, cutting staff to levels probably not seen since the region was settled during the 1850s Gold Rush.

"We're going to wreck the train here and see how we can put it back in the future," Stephen Campbell, district attorney for the Southern Oregon county, told The Associated Press.

The sizeable budget gap was left by the expiration of a federal safety net for timber-reliant counties such as Josephine.

As a result of the cutbacks, the routine areas of law enforcement — drunken drivers, domestic abuse, shoplifting and car wrecks — will likely be where people see the loss of sheriff's patrols and prosecutors first.

Losing four of his nine prosecutors, Campbell is working out a list of which crimes he will be able to prosecute, and which he will not. Most misdemeanors will not be prosecuted. That includes minor assaults, such as from domestic disputes, and minor thefts. Domestic abuse rises to a felony if it is done in front of the kids. Resisting arrest will still be prosecuted, as will some drunken driving. But reckless driving, menacing, driving while suspended, probably not. Even some felonies won't go to court.

"The list is pretty long," Campbell said. "I have been telling the budget committee for years now that I can't carry out my mandate as it is. There is a segment of cases that are declared violations, which we don't prosecute, that are prosecuted in most counties of the state. That has already been happening. This is even worse."

With a population of 83,000, Josephine County is in the heart of Oregon timber country. It grew up first on gold, then on timber, which reached a peak in the 1980s, then collapsed with logging cutbacks on national forests in the 1990s to protect the northern spotted owl and salmon from extinction. The logging cutbacks reduced revenues for Josephine and other timber counties in the West. Many still see a return to logging as their best hope.

In 2000, Congress enacted a law that set up a safety net for timber-reliant counties like Josephine. That law expired last year. A one-year extension has a chance to pass Congress, but even if it does, it will only provide $4 million to Josephine County, not enough to make up for the loss of the levy.

With its failed vote on Tuesday, Josephine County was the first to try to compensate for the loss of the federal timber subsidies by raising property taxes. Neighboring Curry County is considering asking voters to approve a sales tax in the fall.

Josephine County Sheriff Gil Gilbertson handed out pink slips Wednesday to 70 deputies and civilian personnel, leaving him with just 28 after June 1. That will require releasing about 90 inmates from the jail in the coming weeks, leaving 30 people behind bars. Those being held are considered the greatest risk to the community.

There will be no more detectives, no more road deputies, and just one dispatcher. Contract deputies will still patrol the city of Cave Junction, federal lands and the Rogue River during the day, because they are funded by outside revenues. Gilbertson will be the only county lawman on call around the clock. For backup, he can call on the contract deputies during business hours, but otherwise will have to wait for a state trooper, which could take more than a half hour.

The Illinois Valley Safehouse Alliance logs about five incidents a week where sheriff's deputies are called to a domestic disturbance, and gets about 40 victims a month, said Grace Auzenne, a domestic violence advocate for the organization. With no one but the sheriff himself to call around the clock, no jail space to hold offenders, and no prosecution, the problem is sure to escalate, she said.

"All in all it's not looking good for rural areas," she said.

At one point, authorities said, he told his case officer he stopped the treatment out of concern for his liver while binging on alcohol and methamphetamine.

So on Tuesday, authorities took the unusual step of arresting Rodriguez and charging him with refusing to comply with a tuberculosis order to be at home at certain times and make appointments to take his medication.

It's a move that divides public health officials.

"I think it's an error to confine someone in the criminal justice system for a public health crime," said Lawrence Gostin, a Georgetown University public health law professor who drafted a model law adopted by several states struggling with the issue. "The whole intention is to protect the public's health. It's not to lay blame on someone."

Health officials say Rodriguez, 34, of Stockton has active pulmonary tuberculosis, which can include coughing up blood or phlegm and can spread through the air.

Rodriguez has been noncompliant with his treatment and could become contagious as a result, Ginger Wick, nursing director for San Joaquin County, said in a letter requesting a warrant for Rodriguez's arrest.

After failing one time to give himself the drugs, Rodriguez told a nurse he had gone on an alcohol binge and taken methamphetamine and didn't want to hurt his liver, Wick said in her letter.

Rodriguez was arrested Tuesday and is expected to be arraigned Thursday on two misdemeanor counts.

He will likely be appointed a public defender.

Tuberculosis is a bacterial infection that usually attacks the lungs. Many people have a latent form, and the active form usually only affects adults whose immune systems are compromised, which can happen from drug use.

Public health experts are divided on the issue of mandatory treatment and criminal charges for patients who don't comply with treatment orders.

Many of those who do support criminal prosecution in the rarest of cases when public health is in jeopardy oppose the jailing of patients.

Implementing mandatory treatment should be a last resort, and prosecuting someone for disobeying a public health order is unhelpful and sends the wrong message if protecting public health is the intent, Georgetown's Gostin said.

Instead, the afflicted should be given assistance such as transportation to and from treatments rather than punishment as an incentive to take their medicine, he said.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said laws to control the spread of tuberculosis have been in use for more than a century, though regulations differ in each state.

As many as 12,000 new cases of tuberculosis are reported in the country each year, the CDC reported. California recorded 2,317 new cases in 2011, a low since records have been kept.

Nonetheless, officials throughout the nation continue to struggle to stop the spread of tuberculosis, with several drug-resistant strains emerging in recent years.

Federal and state officials don't keep records of the number of people prosecuted for refusing to take their medicines. But some say it's exceedingly rare to file criminal charges in such cases.

San Joaquin County has had more than 30 tuberculosis prosecutions since 1984, prosecutor Stephen Taylor said, noting the county is more aggressive than other jurisdictions in prosecuting patients to get them to take their medication.

"The criminal cases we're dealing with generally involve drug users who are harder to treat and manage because the TB medicines conflict with street drugs," he said. "We have to throw these people in jail and treat them as in-patients. They don't cooperate as out-patients."

Karen Furst, San Joaquin County public health officer, said the county arranges transportation and other services to help patients stick to their drug regimen and turns to the legal system only as a last resort.

"I have to make sure that if I'm aware that somebody is in a position that could possibly be spreading a disease to another person, that I take steps that are necessary to prevent that from happening," she said.

Rodriguez was discharged in March from San Joaquin General Hospital with four medications for active tuberculosis and agreed to take the drugs under observation by a county health official on weekdays and on his own on weekends, authorities said.

He allegedly refused to take the drugs on another day and then was not at home on three occasions and missed an appointment.

Each charge against Rodriguez carries a maximum penalty of a year behind bars. In her letter, Wick said Rodriguez would need nine months of treatment.

_____

Associated Press writer Paul Elias in San Francisco contributed to this report.

Pushing back against a federal effort to stem the proliferation of medical marijuana operations, one of the nation's largest drug policy groups claimed credit Wednesday for the defeat of a former federal prosecutor who was the early favorite to win the Democratic primary for Oregon attorney general.

As interim U.S. attorney, Dwight Holton called Oregon's medical marijuana law a "train wreck" and oversaw efforts to crack down on medical marijuana clubs and grow operations that he said were fronts for illegal marijuana sales. Federal prosecutors have led similar crackdowns in other states that have legalized marijuana for medicinal use.

"Drug war rhetoric and tactics will not be tolerated," said Jill Harris, managing director for the campaign arm of Drug Policy Alliance.

Retired state appeals court judge Ellen Rosenblum said she'd make marijuana enforcement a low priority. She easily defeated Holton with the help of Harris' group and its allies, which chipped in at least a quarter of Rosenblum's total campaign cash.

"What we're hoping, and what we assume, is that any U.S. attorney who's thinking of running for statewide office in a Democratic Primary anywhere in the country is going to think twice now before adopting a highly aggressive posture toward the medical marijuana law," said Ethan Nadelmann, executive director Drug Policy Alliance and its campaign branch, Drug Policy Action.

Rosenblum downplayed the role of the marijuana vote in her victory in a brief interview following her victory Tuesday night. With most votes counted, she defeated Holton 64 percent to 36 percent.

"There's lots of issues that played into my victory, and that may well be one of them," Rosenblum said of the surprising emergence of medical marijuana as a defining issue.

About 55,000 people are registered marijuana users in Oregon.

Sixteen states allow people with a doctor's recommendation to use marijuana, an issue that has long been a source of tension with the federal government. Federal officials have said some state medical marijuana laws are being used as cover to grow and sell pot for the black market. Law enforcement agencies have cracked down on some pot growers, dispensaries and clubs in several states, including California, Colorado and Oregon.

Campaign finance records show Rosenblum raised $600,000 through May 9, including $80,000 from Drug Policy Action and $70,000 from John Sperling, Chairman of Apollo Group Inc., who has financed medical marijuana campaigns nationally. Oregon has no caps on campaign contributions.

Citizens for Sensible Law Enforcement, a local organization working on a ballot measure to legalize marijuana, spent another $40,000 to boost Rosenblum, much of it on radio ads attacking Holton over marijuana.

"We're glad to have played a role in her victory," said Bob Wolfe, one of the organization's directors. "But I do think Dwight's defeat is directly related to his stance on marijuana."

Holton declined to comment. The Department of Justice did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Wednesday morning accident between the amphibious assault vessel USS Essex and the oiler USNS Yukon occurred about 120 miles off the coast of Southern California as the Essex was approaching the Yukon to be refueled, said Cmdr. Charlie Brown, a spokesman for the 3rd Fleet.

There were no injuries or fuel spills, military officials said.

Brown said the steering apparently stopped working on the 844-foot-long Essex, which was carrying 982 crew members on its way to San Diego for scheduled maintenance. It had spent the past 12 years based in Sasebo, Japan, as command ship for the Navy's Expeditionary Strike Group 7.

The Essex was traveling with a new crew that came aboard for the trip to California. The ship recently underwent a crew swap with another amphibious assault ship, the Bonhomme Richard, as part of a standard procedure in the Navy to keep its ships operating.

The Essex and Yukon were both able to continue toward San Diego despite the damage, which the Navy said did not compromise their fuel tanks or systems.

The Yukon arrived at the Navy base in San Diego after 3 p.m. Wednesday with its crew of 82, including 78 civilian mariners and four military crew members.

The Essex was keeping to its planned arrival time of 9 a.m. Thursday.

Brown said the damage was still being assessed. He said he couldn't say how fast the ships were moving at the time of the crash because the Navy is still investigating the cause.

The standard speed for ships lining up to refuel at sea is about 13 knots, or 15 mph, Brown said. No lines or hoses had been connected because the two vessels were just approaching each other.

The ships likely just bounced off each other, said maritime safety consultant James W. Allen.

Even so, he said, with massive ships, it can be "a pretty hard bump that can bend metal" and cause dents. The Essex, known as the Iron Gator, resembles a small aircraft carrier, while the Yukon is 677 feet long.

Navy ships routinely refuel at sea while under way.

"They were probably so close there was no time to respond when the steering went out," said Allen, who served 30 years in the Coast Guard.

Navy officials said it was the Essex's first collision. The ship, however, has had mechanical problems.

The military publication Stars and Stripes reported in February that twice over a seven-month period, missions were scrapped because of mechanical or maintenance issues involving the 21-year-old flagship commissioned in San Diego

Navy spokesman Lt. Richard Drake at the time blamed it on wear and tear. 3rd Fleet officials said they could not comment on that since at the time the Essex was in the 7th Fleet in Japan. 7th Fleet officials could not be immediately reached for comment Wednesday.

The Yukon, which was launched in 1993, has been involved in at least two previous collisions, including on Feb. 27, 2000, when it collided with a 135-foot civilian cargo ship while trying to enter Dubai's Jebel Ali port in the United Arab Emirates. The Yukon sustained minor damage.

Less than five months later, it was hit by the USS Denver during refueling off the coast of Hawaii. Both ships sustained heavy damage.

___

Associated Press writers Andrew Dalton and John Antczak in Los Angeles contributed to this report.

The fire in the Prescott National Forest grew to an estimated 5,400 acres, or nearly 8 1/2 square miles, Wednesday night -- up from about 2,000 acres a day earlier.

High winds have helped fan the flames, and fire officials were expecting much of the same conditions for the next couple of days.

Most of Crown King's 350 residents had already evacuated their homes before Taryn Denyce finally left earlier Wednesday, feeling she had no other choice.

She didn't fear for her life, nor for the bed and breakfast she took over from her parents a few years ago that was being powered by a generator.

Instead, authorities mistakenly told her she could be arrested if she didn't leave, even if she was on her own property, Yavapai County sheriff's spokesman Dwight D'Evelyn said. When a sheriff's official showed up at her door in downtown Crown King and offered to help pack her truck, she reluctantly left.

"I felt I had no choice. I was raised a Catholic girl," said the 48-year-old retired nurse. "I follow the rules, and if he's telling me `it's time to go Taryn,' it's time to go."

The winds were pushing the blaze away from the community of mostly summer homes about 85 miles north of Phoenix. But fire incident spokeswoman Michelle Fidler said winds could shift and push the fire back into the community where it started and possibly threaten some communications towers in the area.

Road access also is a concern. Fewer than 10 residents remain in their homes, D'Evelyn said, and they could become trapped if the flames cross or block access roads.

Firefighters also would be pulled out if that happens, Fidler said.

Most of the 350 residents initially chose to stay in the town that's popular for all-terrain vehicles because of its numerous hills and gorges. But D'Evelyn said sheriff's officials persuaded about 20 of the 30 residents still left early Wednesday morning to go -- including Denyce.

"Most people have come down from the hill," he said. "We want them all down. We don't want to have to worry about anyone who doesn't need to be up there."

The fire has destroyed two homes and a trailer, and prompted an evacuation order on Sunday. The fire started at an occupied home, but fire investigators have yet to determine the cause. It remained 5 percent contained Wednesday.

Denyce gathered what she could from her home in 20 minutes and is now staying with a friend in Glendale. She said she would rather be protecting her property and trying to keep her business viable but now is prohibited from returning, as are other residents who have left.

"I have my daughter and my animals and I'm just happy we're out, but I don't think I was in imminent danger," she said.

Smoke from a larger fire that began Saturday south of Payson drifted into Phoenix over the weekend. U.S. Forest Service officials said the 12,500-acre blaze was burning in the high wilderness area of the Tonto National Forest and was 10 percent contained. No structures were threatened.

Another wildfire in the Tonto National Forest northeast of Young was at about 1,900 acres Wednesday but 15 percent contained. That fire was believed to be lightning-caused and wasn't threatening any structures.

The fires follow a warning from Arizona land managers that hot temperatures and dry vegetation have created a very high fire risk in some parts of the state.

In northern Colorado, 200 firefighters were battling a 1,000-acre blaze that is 5 percent contained. Two groups of residents have been told to prepare for evacuations, but no one has had to leave. The fire was within a quarter-mile of some homes.

The U.S. Forest Service says the fire was caused by humans. The investigation into how it started is continuing.

The fire in the Prescott National Forest grew to an estimated 5,400 acres, or nearly 8 1/2 square miles, Wednesday night — up from about 2,000 acres a day earlier.

High winds have helped fan the flames, and fire officials were expecting much of the same conditions for the next couple of days.

Most of Crown King's 350 residents had already evacuated their homes before Taryn Denyce finally left earlier Wednesday, feeling she had no other choice.

She didn't fear for her life, nor for the bed and breakfast she took over from her parents a few years ago that was being powered by a generator.

Instead, authorities mistakenly told her she could be arrested if she didn't leave, even if she was on her own property, Yavapai County sheriff's spokesman Dwight D'Evelyn said. When a sheriff's official showed up at her door in downtown Crown King and offered to help pack her truck, she reluctantly left.

"I felt I had no choice. I was raised a Catholic girl," said the 48-year-old retired nurse. "I follow the rules, and if he's telling me 'it's time to go Taryn,' it's time to go."

The winds were pushing the blaze away from the community of mostly summer homes about 85 miles north of Phoenix. But fire incident spokeswoman Michelle Fidler said winds could shift and push the fire back into the community where it started and possibly threaten some communications towers in the area.

Road access also is a concern. Fewer than 10 residents remain in their homes, D'Evelyn said, and they could become trapped if the flames cross or block access roads.

Firefighters also would be pulled out if that happens, Fidler said.

Most of the 350 residents initially chose to stay in the town that's popular for all-terrain vehicles because of its numerous hills and gorges. But D'Evelyn said sheriff's officials persuaded about 20 of the 30 residents still left early Wednesday morning to go — including Denyce.

"Most people have come down from the hill," he said. "We want them all down. We don't want to have to worry about anyone who doesn't need to be up there."

The fire has destroyed two homes and a trailer, and prompted an evacuation order on Sunday. The fire started at an occupied home, but fire investigators have yet to determine the cause. It remained 5 percent contained Wednesday.

Denyce gathered what she could from her home in 20 minutes and is now staying with a friend in Glendale. She said she would rather be protecting her property and trying to keep her business viable but now is prohibited from returning, as are other residents who have left.

"I have my daughter and my animals and I'm just happy we're out, but I don't think I was in imminent danger," she said.

Smoke from a larger fire that began Saturday south of Payson drifted into Phoenix over the weekend. U.S. Forest Service officials said the 12,500-acre blaze was burning in the high wilderness area of the Tonto National Forest and was 10 percent contained. No structures were threatened.

Another wildfire in the Tonto National Forest northeast of Young was at about 1,900 acres Wednesday but 15 percent contained. That fire was believed to be lightning-caused and wasn't threatening any structures.

The fires follow a warning from Arizona land managers that hot temperatures and dry vegetation have created a very high fire risk in some parts of the state.

In northern Colorado, 200 firefighters were battling a 1,000-acre blaze that is 5 percent contained. Two groups of residents have been told to prepare for evacuations, but no one has had to leave. The fire was within a quarter-mile of some homes.

The U.S. Forest Service says the fire was caused by humans. The investigation into how it started is continuing.

Edwards has pleaded not guilty to six criminal counts related to campaign finance violations stemming from nearly $1 million secretly provided by two wealthy donors that helped hide his pregnant mistress during the 2008 Democratic primary. He faces up to 30 years in prison and $1.5 million in fines if convicted of all charges.

Prosecutors likely will argue the payments were intended to influence the outcome of an election by keeping Edwards' political hopes viable. Defense lawyers will counter that Edwards had limited knowledge of the cover-up and that the payments were gifts intended to keep his cancer-stricken wife from leaning about the out-of-wedlock pregnancy.

U.S. District Court Judge Catherine C. Eagles set the two-hour limit for closing arguments. The jury is expected to begin deliberating Friday.

On Wednesday, Edwards' team wrapped up their defense without calling him, his mistress or daughter to testify, a move experts said was intended to shift focus from a political sex scandal to the nitty-gritty of campaign finance law.

"The defense wasn't sexy, but the defense doesn't want sexy. It wants an acquittal," said Steve Friedland, a professor at Elon University School of Law and former federal prosecutor who has attended much of the trial.

Experts said Edwards' bare-bone defense, which lasted just over two days, may be enough to avoid conviction on charges he authorized more than $1 million secretly provided by two wealthy donors to help hide an affair with pregnant mistress Rielle Hunter as he sought the White House in 2008.

The prosecution presented nearly three weeks of evidence and testimony from a former Edwards aide and campaign advisors that painted Edwards as a frequent liar, but showed no direct evidence he intended to break federal campaign finance laws, the experts said.

Many observers believed Edwards would testify so the jury could hear directly from the former U.S. senator and trial lawyer, who had a reputation for his ability to sway jurors. But putting Edwards and Hunter on the stand would have exposed the defense to withering cross-examination about Edwards' past lies and personal failings.

"The defense may very well have felt that their case was solid enough to go to the jury without the risk of the personal testimony of these witnesses, which would undoubtedly resurrect the salacious details of the affair for the jury," said Catherine Dunham, another Elon law professor who has been attending the trial.

The defense also elected not to call Edwards' oldest daughter, Cate, a 30-year-old lawyer who has sat behind her father nearly every day, as a character witness to help humanize him.

At one point during the trial, Cate Edwards ran out of the courtroom in tears during testimony about her cancer-stricken mother, Elizabeth, confronting her father about his extramarital affair.

The former Democratic presidential candidate has sat quietly at the defense table throughout his trial, whispering with his lawyers and rarely showing reaction to the often emotional testimony from witnesses who were once among his strongest supporters and closest friends.

He has made no public statements since October, following a pre-trial hearing where a judge refused to throw out the case.

At the trial, prosecutors have shown two members of Edwards' inner circle, campaign finance chairman Fred Baron and once-close aide Andrew Young, engaged in a yearlong cover-up to hide the married presidential candidate's mistress from the media.

The married Young falsely claimed paternity of his boss' baby and received $725,000 in secret checks from an elderly heiress, using some of the money to care for Hunter.

Baron, a wealthy Texas lawyer, provided Young and Hunter with more than $400,000 in cash, luxury hotels, private jets and a $20,000-a-month rental mansion in Santa Barbara, Calif.

Prosecutors have introduced phone records, voicemails and other evidence showing Edwards in frequent contact with Baron, Young and Hunter while Hunter was in hiding.

Former members of Edwards' campaign also testified that Baron spoke of "moving Hunter around" in the candidate's presence and that Edwards told his speechwriter he knew "all along" what Baron was up to.

But in 14 days of testimony, no witness ever said Edwards knew he was violating campaign finance laws, a key element of criminal intent the government must prove to win a conviction.

"There was no direct evidence that John Edwards knew he was violating campaign contribution laws," Friedland said. "Juries like smoking guns. There were no smoking guns here."