Hunter Biden’s lawyers said Friday they would announce Monday whether he will testify in his own defense. his trial with a gun enters its second week.
Biden Hunter’s attorney, Abbe Lowell, told the judge Friday “we’re at this final decision” in the case, referring to whether to call the defendant. The defense has only called three witnesses so far, Including Naomi Bidenthe eldest daughter of Hunter Biden, who gave emotional testimony Friday about her father’s drug use.
Another possible witness is President Biden’s brother, James “Jimmy” Biden, who was scheduled to testify Friday, but the court was adjourned earlier than expected. If Hunter Biden testifies, prosecutors have indicated they may call an additional witness.
Biden Hunter is charged with three felonies related to his purchase of a gun in October. 2018. Two of the charges relate to accusations that he made false statements on a federal firearms form about his drug use, certifying that he was not a user or addicted to any controlled substance during a period when prosecutors allege he was addicted to crack cocaine. .
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The other charge involves alleged illegal possession of the weapon, possessing the weapon for 11 days before Hallie Biden found it and threw it away. Biden Hunter has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
The prosecution rested its case against President Biden’s only surviving son Friday after testimony from Hunter Biden’s ex-wife Kathleen Buhle, his ex-girlfriend Zoe Kestan and Hallie Biden’s widow of his brother Beau Biden and with whom Hunter Biden also had a romantic relationship. after his brother’s death in 2015. The man who allegedly sold the gun to Hunter Biden, Gordon Cleveland, also tested it.
Hallie Biden, considered the prosecution’s star witness, tested last week that she “panicked” when she found the gun and “just wanted to get rid of” the gun and the bullets.
“I didn’t want him to get hurt or the kids to find him and get hurt,” she said, adding that she considered hiding the gun but was “afraid one of my children find it.
Hallie Biden said Hunter introduced her to crack cocaine after her husband’s death. “It was a terrible experience that I went through and I am embarrassed and ashamed by it, and I regret this period of my life,” she testified.
At the heart of the accusation is the question of whether Hunter Biden knowingly lied about his drug use. Prosecutor Derek Hines noted in his opening statement that “addiction may not be a choice, but lying and buying a gun is a choice.”
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Cleveland verified that Hunter Biden did not appear confused by the form when he sold him the gun in October. 2018.
Hallie Biden tested Hunter Biden for drug use in October. In 2018, when he bought the gun, prosecutors showed texts saying he was “sleeping in a car smoking crack.” But Naomi Biden testified that her father “looked great” in late October. 2018 and she didn’t spot any drug paraphernalia when she borrowed his truck.
While Hunter Biden’s history of substance abuse is well known — he discussed it in his memoir, “Beautiful Things” — Hunter Biden’s attorney, Lowell, sought to question whether he knowingly omitted information from the form of disclosure. In his opening statement, Lowell said many addicts are “in denial” about their drug use, and he also argued that Hunter Biden did not consider himself an addict when he purchased the gun.
Naomi Biden testified that she knew her father “suffered from addiction,” saying “after my uncle (Beau Biden) died, things got bad.” But she said he never used illegal drugs in front of her and she appreciated that she never observed what her father looked like when he was using drugs.
While President Biden did not attend the trial, other members of the Biden family were present. First lady Jill Biden has been there almost every day, except when she was in France with President Biden to mark the 80th anniversary of D-Day. Ashley Biden, the Bidens’ daughter and Hunter Biden’s half-sister, also went to court, although she became emotional and left one day.