Sex tape marked 'special'

The legal wrangling continues over the purported sex tape of former presidential candidate John Edwards and his mistress Rielle Hunter.

At a court hearing under way in Hillsborough, it emerged that the original copy of the infamous tape was delivered to court by a court-appointed security guard. Retrieved from a safe deposit box in Atlanta, the tape was kept in a sheriff's office safe, marked "special," reports Michael Biesecker.

Andrew Young, a former aide to Edwards who has written a tell-all book, has said he found the tape discarded in a home where he and his family lived with Hunter at one time.

Young's lawyer brought to court a blue gym bag with other items that Hunter has sued to get.

Included in the bag were: a copy of sex tape from Young home; four campaign "webisodes"; tapes of interviews with Edwards' children shot by Hunter, as well as other assorted videos. The bag also contained two CDs of photos taken by Hunter and a flash drive with copies of photos.

Update: Richard Segal, a Washington lawyer who represents Andrew Young and his wife, Cheri, testified that a copy of the sex tape was provided to the FBI at the request of U.S. Attorney for Eastern District of North Carolina as evidence in "ongoing grand jury investigation of John Edwards."

Post now reflects that the tape was retrieved by a court-appointed security officer.