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.
Latest headlines:
Transcript shows Hunter Biden affirmed decision not to testify
Hunter Biden, in court today, affirmed his decision not to testify in his own defense, telling the judge "I do" when she asked him if he understood it was his own decision to make, according to the transcript of the proceedings released after court was dismissed for the day.
"Did you make a decision not to testify voluntarily?" Judge Maryellen Noreika asked him, according to the transcript.
"I did," he said.
The questioning from Noreika occurred during a sidebar with Hunter Biden, his attorneys, and prosecutors that was conducted out of earshot of reporters but released as part of the transcript.
"You understand you have the right to testify in your own defense?" the judge asked Hunter Biden, per the transcript.
"I do," he said.
"If you don't testify, you understand your decision not to testify cannot be held against you and I will instruct the jury to that effect?" she asked.
"Agreed," he responded.
"It's your decision and yours alone to make, do you understand that?" the judge asked.
"I do," he responded.
"It's not your attorney's decision, it's not the government's decision, it's not my decision, you understand all that?" she asked.
"I do," he said.
Day 1 of jury deliberations ends with no verdict
The jurors in Hunter Biden's federal gun trial have been dismissed for the day, after deliberating for one hour with no verdict.
Hunter Biden left the courthouse after the jury was dismissed.
The jurors will be back tomorrow at 9 a.m. ET to resume their deliberations.
Jury begins deliberations
The jury has begun deliberations on the three felony counts Hunter Biden faces in his federal gun case.
Prior to the jury getting the case, the government rebutted defense attorney Abbe Lowell's closing argument by asserting again that Hunter Biden was a drug addict when he bought the gun at the center of the case and that he knew it -- beyond a reasonable doubt.
There are "seven ways to Sunday" to show Hunter Biden was an addict and it was "preposterous" that he -- a "Yale-educated lawyer" -- didn't know he was buying a gun while knowingly addicted, prosecutor Derek Hines argued.
Hines rebutted Lowell's characterization of the government's treatment of Hunter Biden's daughter Naomi Biden as "cruel."
Naomi Biden was "completely uncomfortable" because "she couldn't vouch for the defendant's sobriety," Hines argued.
Hines closed by saying that if the jury doesn't determine Hunter Biden is a crack addict based on the evidence in the case, "then no one is a crack addict of unlawful use."
Judge Maryellen Noreika then delivered the final portion of her instructions and sent jurors to begin their deliberations.
The judge indicated that she would not keep jurors past 4:30 or 4:45 p.m. ET today.
Defense calls government's case 'conjecture and suspicion'
Defense attorney Abbe Lowell, in his closing argument, urged jurors to dispense with the government's "conjecture and suspicion" and find his client not guilty on all three counts.
"We have had Hunter's life in our hands" until now, Lowell said, referring to his legal team. "And now we have to give it to you."
Lowell repeatedly referred to prosecutors' case as a "magicians' trick" -- to "watch this hand and pay no attention to that one," as he said -- arguing that prosecutors failed to "fill in the gaps" about Hunter Biden's drug use around the time of his firearm purchase "because they don't have the proof."
Lowell also referred to prosecutors' strategy of showing Hunter Biden's pattern of drug use as an "accordion," meant to "compress" the timeline and make it seem to jurors that he was actively using drugs in October 2018, when he said on a government form that he was not addicted to drugs in order to purchase a Colt handgun.
The defense attorney also attacked some of the tactics prosecutors used, calling their treatment of Hunter Biden's daughter Naomi Biden "extraordinarily cruel" and saying that many of their questions and evidence were introduced with the intention of "embarrassing Hunter."
He also asked jurors to recall gaps in the recollections of Hunter Biden's then-girlfriend Hallie Biden, and suggested they should remember the immunity agreement she struck with prosecutors for her testimony.
"These are serious charges that will change Hunter's life," he said of the three felony charges the president's son faces, adding that "it's time to end this case."
Following Lowell's closing, the government was scheduled to have a short rebuttal, at which point the judge was to finish her jury instructions before the jury gets the case.
Special counsel says Garland gave him independence to investigate
Special counsel David Weiss, whose office prosecuted Hunter Biden, said following the verdict that Hunter Biden should be held no more accountable than any other citizen regarding the charges.
Weiss said while much of the testimony in the case was about Hunter Biden's abuse of drugs and alcohol, "Ultimately this case was not just about addiction, a disease that haunts families across the United States including Hunter Biden's."
This case was about "illegal choices [the] defendant made while in the throes of addiction, his choice to lie on a government form when he bought a gun, and the choice to possess that gun," he said.
It was also about "the rule of law," Weiss said. "No one in this country is above the law," he said.
Weiss, a Trump appointee, thanked Attorney General Merrick Garland for "ensuring that we have the independence to appropriately pursue our investigations and prosecutions."