Jury Selection Starts in Hunter Biden’s Criminal Trial

Hunter Biden, aged 54, is facing three felony charges stemming from his purchase and possession of a revolver in 2018. This is the first trial of the child of a sitting president. Hunter has pleaded not guilty. It is one of two criminal cases he faces, with federal tax charges brought separately in California.

The trial is taking place in Wilmington, with U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika presiding, and bow begins with the jury selection process.

Hunter Biden was initially charged last September in the case brought by special counsel David Weiss, who was a Trump appointee, with lying about his use of illegal drugs when he bought a Colt Cobra .38-caliber revolver and with illegally possessing the weapon for 11 days in October 2018. Weiss also brought tax charges.

If he is convicted on all charges in the Delaware case, Hunter faces up to 25 years in prison. However defendants generally receive shorter sentences, according to the U.S. Justice Department.

Hunter reportedly spent the weekend with his father in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, with the pair biking and attending church together Saturday in the sunny beach town. Joe Biden, who had been expected to depart Rehoboth Beach on Monday, traveled Sunday evening to his home in Wilmington.

Potential jurors for this case will be screened for their ability to commit to serving the entire length of the trial, which is expected to run through the end of next week. To convict Hunter, all 12 jurors must agree he is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

Many expect the case to center on Hunter Biden’s years-long crack cocaine use and addiction, which he has discussed publicly and which was a prominent part of his 2021 autobiography, “Beautiful Things.” He told Noreika at a hearing last year he has been sober since the middle of 2019.

Hunter checked the box for “no” when he filled out a federal gun purchase form regarding being an unlawful user of a controlled substance. The Prosecution will seek to prove that Hunter Biden knew he was lying when he ticked that box “no”.

The prosecution’s lawyers revealed in court filings that they might use details from Hunter Biden’s phone and iCloud account, including photos of him smoking crack and messages with drug dealers. They also may call as a witness his former wife Kathleen Buhle, who accused Hunter Biden in their 2017 divorce proceedings of squandering money on drugs, alcohol and more.

For the defense, Hunter Biden’s lawyers may try to show he had completed a drug rehabilitation program before purchasing the gun and may have considered his answer on the gun purchase form to be truthful.

Last year a plea agreement that would have resolved the gun and tax charges without any prison sentence collapsed after Noreika questioned the extent of the immunity it extended to Biden. Hunter Biden’s lawyers blamed Republican pressure for the failure of the plea agreement.

{Matzav.com}