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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Jury told not to judge Hunter Biden for not testifying

Judge Maryellen Noreika, in her initial instructions to jurors, explained how they are to apply the law to the facts of the case for the three criminal counts Hunter Biden faces.

"You must not attach any significance to the fact that the defendant did not testify," she read aloud in the courtroom, after the defense decided not to call Hunter Biden to the stand.

The judge defined "knowingly," the central term by which jurors must determine if Hunter Biden bought the gun at the center of the case "knowing" he was an addict or user of drugs, after he stated on the gun-purchase form that he was not.

Closing arguments are scheduled to begin at 12:05 p.m. ET, after which the judge will give the jury her final instructions and their deliberations will begin.


Closing arguments up next after Hunter Biden does not testify

Closing arguments will begin at about noon ET after Hunter Biden chose not to testify in his federal gun case.

The defense rested without him taking the stand, after which prosecutors presented a brief rebuttal case, then the judge gave the jury their initial instructions.


Judge reads initial jury instructions

Following the prosecution's rebuttal case, the judge read the jury their initial instructions.

Court is then expected to break for lunch, with closing arguments currently scheduled for the afternoon.

The judge will then give the jury their final instructions before they begin deliberations.


Prosecutors rest rebuttal case

The government rested its rebuttal case after a brief cross-examination of FBI special agent Erika Jensen, who testified about location and text message data relevant to the case.

Attorneys then gathered for another sidebar conference.


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.