The court will have a tricky task before it, due to the politically charged nature of the case and the fact that the Biden family is deeply influential in Delaware, the second smallest state. President Biden — who was first elected to public office in Delaware back in 1971 — was just in Rehoboth Beach, Del. over the weekend.
Roughly 250 Delaware residents have been summoned for jury selection (though not all of them will necessarily have to show up to court) and that pool will then be narrowed down to 12 jurors and four alternates, according to the judge.
Hunter Biden, 54, has pleaded not guilty to three felony counts pertaining to his alleged illegal possession of a firearm while addicted to narcotics.
It is one of two indictments against him with the second case — his tax indictment — slated to commence on Sept. 5 in Los Angeles. He has similarly pleaded not guilty in that case to six misdemeanor and three felony counts for allegedly skimping Uncle Sam of $1.4 million in taxes.
COUNT 1: False Statement in Purchase of a Firearm
Faces a maximum of 10 years’ imprisonment, a fine of $250,000, three years of supervised release, a special assessment of $100.
COUNT 2: False Statement Related to Information Required to be Kept by Federal Firearms Licensed Dealer
Faces a maximum of five years’ imprisonment, a fine of $250,000, three years of supervised release, a special assessment of $100.
COURT 3: Possession of a Firearm by a Person who is an Unlawful User of or Addicted to a Controlled Substance
Faces a maximum of 10 years’ imprisonment, a fine of $250,000, three years of supervised release, a special assessment of $100.
In a bid to root out a biased jury pool via a process known as voir dire, prospective jurors will be peppered with questions about the 2024 presidential election.
It’s not clear how long jury selection will take, but the full case is expected to last roughly one to two weeks.
Delaware US District Judge Maryellen Noreika, a Trump appointee backed by the state’s Democratic senators, is presiding over the firearm case.
It’s not clear how long jury selection will take, but the full case is expected to last roughly one to two weeks.
She is the judge who oversaw a plea deal — on the tax charges and a pretrial diversion agreement on the firearm charges — that dramatically imploded in a courtroom back in July of last year.
Special counsel David Weiss, a rare Trump administration holdover serving as US Attorney for the District of Delaware, is overseeing the prosecution against the scandal-scarred first son.
Hunter Biden is being represented by a team of several lawyers, led by well-known defense attorney Abbe Lowell, who has an extensive history of defending famous clientele in the courtroom.
His firearm case stems back to an Oct. 12, 2018 purchase of a .38 caliber Colt Cobra revolver at a Delaware gun shop. To acquire that handgun, background checks required him to certify that he was not addicted to illicit drugs.
That year, Hunter Biden was deep in the throes of a crack cocaine addiction, as documented by evidence from his memoir, “Beautiful Things,” leaked laptop contents and scores of witnesses.
About 11 days after the revolver purchase, his sister-in-law turned lover Hallie Biden disposed of it in a trash can near Janssen’s Market, right across the street from a high school, according to police records.
An enraged Hunter Biden demanded she fetch the weapon, which she went to do, only to discover it was no longer there. Police were then called to the scene. The gun was later returned by a man who regularly rummages through trash.