On May 24, a federal judge set several parameters for the presentation of evidence in Hunter Biden’s upcoming trial on felony gun charges. Both the prosecution and defense secured favorable rulings on motions. U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika granted Mr. Biden’s motion to exclude references during the trial to his discharge from the U.S. Navy, child support proceedings, and tax fraud charges he faces in California. The judge also barred prosecutors from describing the defendant’s profligate spending as an “extravagant lifestyle.
While Judge Norieka, a Trump appointee, allowed the government to discuss Mr. Biden’s spending, including his purchase of a $900 revolver in Delaware in 2018, she ruled that the prosecution did not need to prove Mr. Biden was using drugs on the day he bought the gun. Prosecutors will only have to prove he was a user at the time.
The judge also agreed to consider defense questions about the contents of an infamous laptop allegedly dropped off by Mr. Biden at a Delaware repair shop. His attorneys want to raise questions about the authenticity of the laptop’s data, while prosecutors argue that there’s no evidence it has been compromised and that fighting over it would be a waste of time.
Prosecutors were able to convince the judge to prohibit Mr. Biden’s lawyers from discussing Delaware state officials not bringing any charges against him. Prosecutors said that fact was not relevant because state officials “did not possess the evidence federal authorities later obtained, and even if they had, the conduct was likely not prosecutable under Delaware state law.
Several other motions brought by prosecutors will be decided later. The trial is set to begin on June 3 and could last up to two weeks or potentially longer. Mr. Biden faces up to 25 years in prison and a fine of up to $750,000 if convicted.
While filling out a federal form in 2018 to buy a revolver at a gun store in Delaware, Mr. Biden checked “no” in response to a question that asked, “Are you an unlawful user of, or addicted to, marijuana or any depressant, stimulant, narcotic drug, or any other controlled substance?” The form’s certification section warned that “making any false oral or written statement, or exhibiting any false or misrepresented identification with respect to this transaction, is a crime punishable as a felony under federal law.
Defense lawyers wanted to tell jurors that Mr. Biden has been sober and obeyed the law since the summer of 2019, but the government’s motion to forbid those statements was approved by Judge Norieka. The judge was undecided on several other motions, including one involving data that prosecutors say was obtained from Mr. Biden’s data cloud.
Another motion that will be ruled on later deals with the federal form, ATF Form 4473, that Mr. Biden signed. Prosecutors argue that the original copy is the only one that should be entered into trial evidence. Defense lawyers said the annotations constitute “doctoring,” which “raises questions about the accuracy of the initial form and who completed it, as well as the credibility and now bias of the gun shop employees.” The owner of StarQuest Shooters and Survival Supply, the gun store, is among the government’s planned witnesses. The owner will testify that he watched Mr. Biden fill out the form and check the “no” box.