Hunter Biden's former girlfriend Zoe Kestan testified that she saw him smoking crack as late as Sept. 20, 2018 -- a timeline that could undercut the defense's argument that he was abusing alcohol and not drugs when he purchased a gun on Oct. 12.

The defense has argued that Hunter Biden was not abusing drugs at the time of the gun purchase, after he had undergone a 12-day rehab stint in California that spanned from late August to early September. They argued repeatedly that when Hunter said in his audiobook that he "relapsed" following that rehab stay, it was only an alcohol relapse.

Kestan, however, testified that in mid-September he used crack "in the bedroom, in the bathroom."

Jurors have been laser-focused on Kestan as she testifies, some sitting up straight in their seats -- in contrast to the earlier testimony from the FBI agent who entered hundreds of text messages and audio book portions into the record, during which some jurors appeared to struggle to remain attentive.

Jurors listened attentively to the testimony of Hunter Biden's ex-girlfriend Zoe Kestan, turning their chairs to face her as she recounted their monthslong relationship in 2017-2018 during his addiction.

Under questioning, she spoke of multiple-night hotel stays, trips to Atlantic City, and memories of night clubs, dinners, and drug dealers.

Evidence displayed by prosecutors during her testimony included highly personal photos she had taken during their relationship, including a photo of her and Hunter Biden in a bathtub together in California, with a crack pipe in his hand.

As Kestan testified, Hunter's current wife Melissa sat in the front row of the gallery, barely moving or reacting.

Sitting at the defense table, Hunter Biden at times rubbed his face or covered his mouth as Kestan recounted their time together and photos flashed across the screen in the courtroom.

"I felt a connection with him," Kestan told the jury.

Prosecutors called Hunter Biden's ex-girlfriend Zoe Kestan to the stand, where she testified that she first met him at a Manhattan strip club in late 2017 and dated him for several months afterward.

Kestan bore witness to Hunter Biden's use of crack "every 20 minutes or so."

Kestan, who testified under subpoena and with an immunity agreement with prosecutors, recalled that Hunter Biden's demeanor didn't change after he used crack.

She described him as "cognizant and coherent."

"I remember thinking to myself that there was no change in his behavior," she said. "Nothing had changed, he was the same charming person."

Prosecutors showed jurors photos from Kestan's phone that showed crack pipes strewn about hotel rooms where they stayed.

On cross-examination by defense attorney Abbe Lowell, Hunter Biden's ex-wife Kathleen Buhle testified that she never personally saw Hunter Biden using drugs.

"Did you ever see Hunter using drugs?" Lowell asked.

"No," Buhle replied.

Buhle's answer prompted prosecutors to ask Buhle what she saw "if [she] didn't' see him using drugs?"

"He told me when I found the pipe what it was ... and because he was acting not himself," Buhle said.

Lowell also asked Buhle about Hunter Biden's alcohol use, to which Buhle testified that he abused alcohol for many years.

"He went to rehab the first time in 2003," Buhle said.

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.