The serious criminal trial of Hunter Biden on charges related to firearms is set to officially commence on Tuesday. The proceedings could potentially involve startling revelations regarding drug consumption and incriminating phone text messages, as alleged by the prosecution, involving Joe Biden’s son.
Accusations against 54-year-old Biden include the non-disclosure of his use of illicit substances during the purchase of a Colt Cobra .38-calibre handgun, and an unlawful possession of the firearm for a duration of 11 days back in October 2018. He is facing three serious charges, to which he has entered a not guilty plea. This case is a first, wherein the offspring of a current US president is on the dock.
The trial is scheduled at a federal court located in Wilmington, Delaware – the Biden stronghold, and comes on the heels of ex-president and Republican Donald Trump, Joe Biden’s political opponent during the US elections of November 5, being declared guilty, the first time for an erstwhile president.
The court hearing is expected to revolve around Hunter Biden’s known entanglement and addiction to crack cocaine, a topic that he has not shied away from discussing publicly and on record in his 2021 memoir “Beautiful Things”. Mr Biden, during a previous court encounter in the past year, had informed US District Judge Maryellen Noreika that he has been drug-free since mid-2019.
The prosecution team will be striving to establish that Biden lied while completing a federal firearm acquisition form by answering “no” to the query about him being an illegal user of regulated substances.
David Weiss, the US special counsel, is predicted to bring FBI agent Erika Jensen on board as a witness to testify with regards to Biden’s messages that debated his usage of narcotics.
Evidence even includes a message in which Biden admits to using crack cocaine in a car on 4th street and Rodney. Another message has Biden confessing to be at a minor league baseball arena in Wilmington, in anticipation of a drug-administration termed Mookie.
Past wife Kathleen Buhle might also take the stand, based on prosecution indications, charging the defendant during their divorce battle in 2017, of wasting money on drugs, booze and sex workers.
During the first phase of the trial on Monday, 12 jury members and four substitutes were instructed about their duties, many of them sharing their personal confrontation with drug abuse horrors within their family and friends. A unanimous decision of guilt beyond reasonable doubt by the 12 jury members is required for a conviction.
Mr Weiss, a selection of Donald Trump, has levelled tax charges at Mr Biden in a separate case in California. This takes place just days following a New York jury convicting Mr Trump on 34 felony charges for falsifying records to hide the “hush money” paid to Stormy Daniels, an adult film actor, in an attempt to avoid a sexual scandal prior to the 2016 US election, which led to his term in the White House.
The trial involving Mr Biden offers an opportunity for the Republican party to deflect focus from Trump’s growing legal concerns. On the 11th of July, Mr Trump is set to be sentenced in New York. In addition, he has pleaded not guilty in three outstanding criminal investigations, two of which are connected to his attempts to nullify his 2020 defeat to Joe Biden, whereas the third allegation insists he illegally retained classified national security documents post leaving office in January 2021.
Conviction on all counts in the Delaware case could result in a maximum of 25 years imprisonment for Hunter Biden. However, according to the US Department of Justice, convicts are often given reduced sentences.
Judge Noreika, a fellow Trump appointee, has recently issued multiple orders requested by the prosecution, seemingly undermining Mr Biden’s legal approach. The judge has ruled that Biden’s legal team will not be allowed to use expert evidence suggesting that those battling with substance misuse might not identify as addicts.