Hunter Biden trial: 'Politics never came into play,' juror says after guilty verdict

Hunter Biden has arrived at the courthouse for Day 5 of the trial.

He was accompanied as usual by his wife Melissa Cohen Biden.

The government is expected to rest its case against Hunter Biden this morning after calling its final witnesses.

After that, it will be the defense's turn. Attorneys for Hunter Biden indicated earlier this week that they intend to call Hunter Biden's daughter Naomi to the stand, and also suggested that James Biden, the uncle of Hunter Biden and the brother of President Joe Biden, would testify.

Whether Hunter Biden takes the stand in his own defense remains an open question.

If he does not, defense attorney Abbe Lowell said he would likely rest his case on Monday, meaning jurors could be deliberating as soon as Tuesday.

In a late-day sidebar conference that occurred out of the earshot of jurors and reporters -- but whose contents were included in the court transcript released at the end of each day -- Judge Maryellen Noreika chastised Hunter Biden's attorney for his lengthy questioning of witnesses.

The exchange came after prosecutors took issue with the "consistently lengthy" cross-examinations being conducted by defense attorney Abbe Lowell.

"This is going on a little long," Judge Noreika told Lowell about his cross-examination of the Delaware state trooper who recovered Hunter Biden's gun from the man who found it in the trash.

"I got jurors over there nodding off," the judge said. "Do that at your peril -- but they are half sleeping."

In contrast to Lowell's long cross-examination, prosecutors spent just twenty minutes questioning the trooper on direct examination.

"The crosses have been consistently lengthy, two times our directs," prosecutor Derek Hines told the judge, arguing that some of Lowell's questions were "irrelevant."

The day's final witness was Ed Banner, the 80-year-old Navy veteran who recovered Hunter Biden's firearm from the trash receptacle outside a supermarket after Hunter Biden's then-girlfriend Hallie Biden had disposed of it there.

Banner described finding the firearm and other items as he was rummaging for recyclables that he would often drive to New York to return for money.

Defense attorney Abbe Lowell had previously suggested that cocaine residue discovered on a leather pouch that held the gun could have been tampered with between the time the firearm was discarded on Oct. 23, 2018, and when it was tested in a lab in late 2023.

"This may sound like an unusual question, but does anyone in your household use cocaine?" Derek Hines asked Banner.

"No," Banner said, appearing somewhat surprised by the question.

Banner also denied wrapping the firearm in a sock, as a Delaware state trooper suggested in earlier testimony.

"I don't know nothin' about no sock," Banner said.

Prosecutors said before court concluded that they have two witnesses left -- a DEA drug specialist and an FBI chemist -- and that they intend to rest their case on Friday morning.

Defense counsel said they would call two or three witnesses and would likely rest their case by the end of the day on Monday.

As Lowell previously suggested, he may call James Biden, the president's brother, and Naomi Biden, the president's eldest granddaughter.

He also said that no decision has yet been made on whether Hunter Biden will testify in his own defense.

Court then was recessed for the day.