Hunter Biden gun trial: 'Politics never came into play,' juror says after guilty verdict
The president's son was convicted of unlawfully purchasing a firearm.
President Joe Biden's son Hunter Biden has been found guilty on three felony counts related to his purchase of a firearm in 2018 while allegedly addicted to drugs.
The younger Biden, who pleaded not guilty last October after being indicted by special counsel David Weiss, denied the charges. The son of a sitting president had never before faced a criminal trial.
The trial came on the heels of former President Donald Trump's conviction on felony charges related to a hush money payment made to boost his electoral prospects in the 2016 presidential election.
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Hallie Biden describes finding then discarding gun
In dramatic testimony, Hunter Biden's former romantic partner Hallie Biden described how, on the morning of Oct. 23, 2018, she went to go "clean out" Hunter Biden's car and found a gun.
"What did you find, in addition to trash and clothes?" prosecutor Leo Wise asked her.
"Remnants of crack cocaine and some paraphernalia," Hallie recounted. "Oh and the gun, obviously."
Hallie Biden said she found the firearm in "the arm console" of the car, which she said was not locked because "the lock had been broken." She said it was the first time she had ever seen a gun. She also found ammunition.
"I panicked, I wanted to get rid of them," she told the jury.
Asked why she panicked, Hallie Biden said she "didn't want him to hurt himself." She said she also worried about her kids finding the gun, saying she considered "hiding" it somewhere but was worried they would find it.
She said those frantic moments led to her throwing the gun in the trash. She told the jury she found a pouch to put it in -- which authorities say later tested positive for having cocaine on it -- and put the gun inside. The jurors were then shown the brown pouch she used.
"I was afraid to kind of touch it, I didn't know if it was loaded," Hallie Biden said, telling jurors she then put the pouch into another bag.
"I took it to the grocery store up the road and I threw it away," she testified.
At this point, jurors were shown surveillance video from the grocery store showing Hallie Biden throwing the gun into the trash.
In the video, her car is seen pulling into the parking lot; she then gets out of the driver's seated, opens the back door to get out the gun, then walks over to the store and places the bag in a garbage receptacle.
"Is that you Mrs. Biden?" prosecutor Leo Wise asked about her image on the video. "Yes," she replied.
Hunter Biden, sitting at the defense table, appeared to be locked on Hallie Biden the entire time, his head resting in his hand. He periodically covered his mouth.
Hallie Biden testifies about Hunter Biden's drug use
Hunter Biden's former romantic partner Hallie Biden told jurors that Hunter Biden was "tired, exhausted, and looked like he hadn't slept" on the evening of Oct. 22 or early morning of Oct. 23, 2018, when he arrived at her home in Wilmington to sleep.
She observed that he "could've been" on drugs when she saw him -- just hours before she found his newly purchased Colt Cobra revolver in his car and discarded it in a dumpster.
"I went to clean out his car and his stuff" as he slept in her home, in hopes that when he awoke they could "start anew and deal with stuff," she testified, referring to his addiction to "both" drugs and alcohol.
The testimony didn't appear to be quite the smoking gun sought by prosecutors, who are trying to prove Hunter Biden was using crack at the time of his firearm purchase on Oct. 12 -- one of the central questions in the case.
Hallie Biden, who is the widow of Hunter Biden's late brother Beau Biden, testified that earlier in 2018 she also became addicted to crack after Hunter Biden introduced her to the drug -- but that she is now clean.
"It was a terrible experience I went through," she said, adding that she was "embarrassed and ashamed, and I regret that period of my life."
Hallie Biden takes the stand
Hallie Biden, Hunter Biden's former romantic partner who is the widow of his brother Beau Biden, has taken the stand as the prosecution's next witness.
Prosecutors have said they expect her to testify about Hunter Biden's drug at the time of his gun purchase in October 2018.
Before gun store clerk Gordon Cleveland stepped off the stand, he testified that Hunter Biden did not exhibit any symptoms of drug or alcohol abuse when he purchased the gun at the center of the case.
When asked by defense attorney Abbe Lowell if Hunter Biden exhibited any symptoms at the time of his gun purchase, such as being "glassy eyed" or smelling of alcohol, Cleveland replied, "None at all."
Defense presses clerk over wording on form
Cross-examining gun store clerk Gordon Cleveland, defense attorney Abbe Lowell asked about the framing of the various questions on the gun form that Hunter Biden is accused of lying on -- including the difference between "have you" and "are you."
The form, for example, asks the applicant if they "have ever" been convicted -- but asks "are you" an unlawful user of drugs.
The defense team has used this to argue that Hunter Biden could have reasonably believed he was not violating any laws when he checked "No" on the drug-use box, because they say he was not currently using drugs.
"It does not say, 'Have you ever,"' Lowell said.
In court today, Hunter Biden has been attentive and focused, watching as attorneys clashed earlier over evidence. He gripped his pen as prosecutor Leo Wise asked the judge to keep out texts that his team wishes to use when they cross-examination Hallie Biden.
Special counsel David Weiss, who brought the case, has been seated in the front row behind his prosecution team, periodically nodding along as they make their arguments.
After opening statements, FBI agent will be 1st witness
Hunter Biden and his stepmother, first lady Jill Biden, departed court at the conclusion of the day's jury selection proceedings.
With opening statements set for Tuesday, prosecutors said their first witness would be FBI Special Agent Erika Jensen, who will introduce into evidence several of Hunter Biden's text messages, as well as excerpts from his 2021 memoir, "Beautiful Things," and other evidence.
The parties had carved out three days to select a jury, which means the proceedings are currently running ahead of schedule.
Judge Maryellen Noreika told jurors they would likely need to be available for the trial through June 14, with the possibility of deliberations stretching into the week of June 17.