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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State trooper describes investigating 'stolen gun'
Delaware state trooper Joshua Marley, testifying for the prosecution, described his role in investigating a report of a "stolen gun" on Oct. 23, 2018.
He said that at the time that he believed Hunter Biden "was the victim of the crime."
The gun turned out to have been discarded by Hallie Biden after she discovered it in her then-boyfriend Hunter Biden's car.
Marley spent only a short time on the stand before stepping down.
The government has four witnesses left before resting its case, meaning they will likely continue into Friday morning.
Prosecution calls state police officer to the stand
Defense attorney Abbe Lowell continued to probe Hallie Biden's memory of the period in 2018 when she discovered the gun purchased by then-boyfriend Hunter Biden, at one point remarking that there are "some things you remember and other things you don't."
She testified that for most of the month of October 2018 she did not see Hunter Biden abusing alcohol or drugs.
She also said that in the period after she disposed of the gun and filed a police report, her relationship with Hunter was "more tense."
When her testimony concluded, she stepped off the stand.
The government next called Delaware State Police officer Joshua Marley as its next witness.
Hallie Biden concedes 'it's difficult to recall' details from 2018
Under cross-examination from defense attorney Abbe Lowell, Hunter Biden's former girlfriend Hallie Biden said some of her memories of their interactions from the time of the gun purchase are vague.
Lowell began his questioning by saying he understood that it was a "fairly upsetting" period and that "being here is no picnic either."
Hallie Biden conceded that "it's difficult to recall" exactly where Hunter was at specific moments or whether he was where he suggested he was, at one point saying that "it's all kind of vague."
"Reconstructing this is not easy?" Lowell asked her.
"Correct," she replied.
Hallie Biden, the widow of Hunter Biden's late brother Beau Biden, testified that the "remnants" of crack she found in Hunter Biden's car on Oct. 23, 2018 -- the day she discovered then discarded the firearm -- could have been from weeks or months earlier.
"You didn't see him doing drugs or alcohol" the day you discarded the gun, Lowell inquired.
"Correct," she said.
At one point Lowell's cross-examination descended into a bit of chaos as both Lowell and Hallie Biden struggled to follow the proper protocols to get her text messages admitted into evidence.
"So far so good," Abbe said at one point.
"Well, no," prosecutor Leo Wise objected.
Jurors rubbed their eyes and gazed around as the back-and-forth continued, with the courtroom bursting into laughter on several occasions. At one point, Hallie Biden appeared to look over at her fiancé sitting in gallery, shrugging her shoulders and appearing to mouth the words "I don't know."
Court was subsequently recessed for lunch.
Hallie Biden details text messages following gun buy
Prosecutor Leo Wise read through text messages Hunter Biden's then-girlfriend Hallie Biden exchanged with him in the days following his gun purchase and on the day that she discovered and discarded it, asking her on the stand to provide context for their communications.
Within days of buying the gun, Hunter Biden texted her that he was about to meet a drug dealer named "Mookie." Hallie Biden testified that she thought that to mean "that he was buying crack cocaine."
In another message, Hunter Biden wrote that he was "buy" and then seconds later added "ing." Asked how she interpreted that message, Hallie Biden said, "I mean, I would guess but I didn't know for sure."
In the messages, Hallie Biden repeatedly expressed concern for him, at one point saying explicitly that she didn't want him to die. Wise asked her if she was worried that he would overdose on drugs.
She said "Yes," but added that she was also worried he might die by "suicide, I didn't know."
Wise then asked her to describe the messages the two exchanged on the morning she threw the gun away.
"It's hard to believe anyone is that stupid," Hunter Biden wrote to her.
"He was angry with me" for discarding his gun and putting him in legal jeopardy, Hallie Biden told jurors.
"I'm a liar and a thief and a blamer and a user and I'm delusional and an addict," Hunter Biden texted her.
She texted back, "Let's do this right," and suggested "working on sobriety" together.
Asked what she meant by "sobriety" -- alcohol or drugs or both -- Hallie Biden replied, "Well, if you're sober, it's all of the above."
Hunter Biden 'chose to lie,' prosecutor tells jury
Government prosecutors told jurors in the trial's opening statements that they should make "no distinction for Hunter Biden or anybody else" as they weigh the gun case against the president's son.
Hunter Biden "chose to lie," prosecutor Derek Hines said, laying out the case that the defendant purchased a gun while knowing he was an addict and drug user.
Hines said Hunter Biden bought the firearm from a gun seller who will testify as a witness that the younger Biden filled out form 4473 -- consenting to a federal background check -- and certified that he understood the form. The prosecution said it will show Hunter Biden "bought a gun and lied during a background check."
The man who sold Hunter Biden the gun will testify that he watched the defendant fill out the form.
The gun was then "taken by someone concerned he had a gun. That person was Halle Biden," Hines said, referring to Hunter Biden's romantic partner at the time.
Halle Biden disposed of the gun in a dumpster, where it was retrieved by a man who will also be a witness called by the government.
"The police were called" when Halle Biden went to retrieve the gun, Hines said.
Hines, in his opening, said evidence will show that "Hunter Biden knew he was a drug user and a drug addict" when he filled out the form.
Hines cited Hunter Biden's memoir, "Beautiful Things," in which he wrote he had a "superpower of buying crack anywhere, anytime."
In text messages presented by the prosecution, Hunter Biden acknowledged, "I am an addict."