Jurors in Hunter Biden鈥檚 gun trial began deliberating Monday whether the U.S. president鈥檚 son is guilty of federal firearms charges over a revolver he bought in 2018 when prosecutors say he was addicted to crack cocaine.
Hunter Biden is charged with three felonies in the case that has laid bare some of the darkest moments of his drug-fueled past. Prosecutors have used testimony from former romantic partners, personal text messages and photos of Hunter Biden with drug paraphernalia or partially clothed to make the case that he broke the law.
鈥淣o one is above the law,鈥 prosecutor Leo Wise told jurors in his closing argument as first lady Jill Biden watched from the front row of the Wilmington, Delaware, courtroom.
Jurors deliberated for less than an hour before leaving the courthouse for the day. Deliberations were to resume Tuesday morning.
President Joe Biden's son has publicly detailed his struggle with a crack cocaine addiction before getting sober more than five years ago. But the defence sought to show that that he did not consider himself an 鈥渁ddict鈥 when he bought the gun and checked 鈥渘o鈥 on the form that asked whether he was 鈥渁n unlawful user" of drugs or addicted to them.
The case has pitted Hunter Biden against his father's Justice Department in the midst of the Democratic president's reelection campaign. The charges were brought by special counsel David Weiss, who was nominated by Republican former president Donald Trump to be U.S. attorney for Delaware and led the yearslong investigation.
Before the case went to the jury, the prosecutor urged jurors to focus on the 鈥渙verwhelming鈥 evidence against Hunter Biden and pay no mind to members of the president's family sitting in the courtroom.
鈥淎ll of this is not evidence,鈥 Wise said, extending his hand and directing the jury to look at the gallery. 鈥淧eople sitting in the gallery are not evidence.鈥
First lady Jill Biden arrives to federal court on June 10, 2024. (Matt Slocum/AP Photo)
Jill Biden and other family members left the courthouse shortly after deliberations began. The first lady has sat through most of the trial, missing only one day last week to attend D-Day anniversary events with the president in France. At one point on Monday, Hunter Biden leaned over a railing to whisper in his mother鈥檚 ear.
Defence attorney Abbe Lowell told jurors in his closing argument that prosecutors have failed to prove their case. Lowell said the fact that his client has a famous last name does not change the fact that he is presumed innocent 鈥 like any other defendant 鈥 until proven guilty.
鈥淲ith my last breath in this case, I ask for the only verdict that will hold the prosecutors to what the law requires of them" 鈥 a verdict of not guilty, Lowell said.
Hunter Biden's lawyers have suggested he was trying to turn his life around at the time of the gun purchase, having completed a detoxification and rehabilitation program at the end of August 2018. The defence called three witnesses, including Hunter's daughter Naomi, who told jurors that her father seemed be improving in the weeks before he bought the gun.
Closing arguments came shortly after the defence rested its case without calling Hunter Biden to the witness stand. He smiled as he chatted with members of his defence team and flashed a thumbs-up to one of his supporters in the gallery after the final witness 鈥 an FBI agent called by prosecutors in their rebuttal case.
The trial has put a spotlight on a turbulent time in Hunter Biden's life after the death of his brother in 2015. It has played out in the president鈥檚 home state, where Hunter Biden grew up and where the family is deeply established. Joe Biden spent 36 years as a senator in Delaware, commuting daily back and forth from Washington.
Hunter Biden's ex-wife and two former girlfriends testified for prosecutors about his habitual crack use and their failed efforts to help him get clean. One woman, who met Hunter Biden in 2017 at a strip club where she worked, described him smoking crack every 20 minutes or so while she stayed with him at a hotel.
Hunter Biden arrives in federal court with his wife, Melissa Cohen Biden, on Friday, June 7, 2024 in Wilmington, Del. (Matt Slocum / AP Photo)
Jurors have also heard him describe at length his descent into addiction through audio excerpts played in court of his 2021 memoir, 鈥淏eautiful Things." The book, written after he got sober, covers the period he had the gun but doesn鈥檛 mention it specifically.
A key witness for prosecutors was Beau鈥檚 widow, Hallie, who had a brief, troubled relationship with Hunter after his brother died of brain cancer. She found the unloaded gun in Hunter鈥檚 truck on Oct. 23, 2018, panicked and tossed it into a garbage can at a grocery store in Wilmington, where a man seeking recyclables inadvertently fished it out of the trash.
The prosecutor pointed to text messages he said show Hunter trying to make drug deals in the days around the gun purchase. In one message, Hunter told Hallie he was smoking crack. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 my truth,鈥 Hunter wrote.
"Take the defendant鈥檚 word for it. That鈥檚 his truth,鈥 Wise said. He urged jurors to reject the defence's suggestion that Hunter did not really mean what he was texting at the time and was simply trying to avoid being with Hallie.
鈥淵ou don鈥檛 leave your common sense behind when you come into that jury box,鈥 Wise said.
The defence told jurors that there was no actual witness to drug use by Hunter during the 11 days that he had the gun. Lowell also sought to discredit testimony from Hallie and another ex-girlfriend. He told jurors to consider their testimony 鈥渨ith great care and caution,鈥 noting that they were given immunity agreements in exchange for taking the witness stand for prosecutors.
Joe Biden said last week that he would accept the jury鈥檚 verdict and has ruled out a pardon for his son. After flying back from France, the president was at his home in Wilmington for the day and was expected in Washington in the evening for a Juneteenth concert. He was scheduled to travel to Italy later this week for the Group of Seven leaders conference.
Last summer, it looked as if Hunter Biden would avoid prosecution in the gun case altogether, but a deal with prosecutors imploded after the judge, who was nominated to the bench by Republican former President Donald Trump, raised concerns about it. Hunter Biden was subsequently indicted on three felony gun charges. He also faces a trial scheduled for September on felony charges alleging he failed to pay at least US$1.4 million in taxes over four years.
If convicted in the gun case, he faces up to 25 years in prison, though first-time offenders do not get anywhere near the maximum, and it鈥檚 unclear whether the judge would give him time behind bars.
Richer reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Mike Catalini in Wilmington and Colleen Long in Washington contributed to this report.
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