Josh Gerstein: “At long last, John Edwards may finally have caught a break. While a federal court in North Carolina was considering the government’s motion to block his effort to call two campaign finance law experts to bolster his defense at his upcoming federal trial, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals (whose rulings are controlling in North Carolina) issued a ruling broadly affirming the role of legal experts in criminal trials. ‘Courts and commentators have consistently concluded that expert testimony that ordinarily might be excluded on the ground that it gives legal conclusions may nonetheless be admitted in cases that involve highly technical legal issues,’ a three-judge appellate panel wrote Tuesday in U.S. v. Offill (posted here).”