Inside Hunter Biden’s federal gun charges case in Delaware

With the bang of a Delaware judge’s gavel, Joe Biden’s son Hunter Biden became the first child of a sitting president to become a criminal defendant.

Prosecutors allege that Biden, 54, lied about his drug use on an application form to buy a handgun in 2018.

Mr Biden pleads Not guilty of the charges.

Opening statements in the case are expected to begin on Tuesday after 12 jurors and four alternates are sworn in on Monday.

If a jury finds him guilty of all three federal charges, Biden could face up to 25 years in prison.

The trial comes as his father is campaigning for re-election and prosecutors are likely to delve into the specifics of Mr Biden’s cocaine addiction, potentially providing fodder for the president’s political enemies.

President Biden has repeatedly declined to comment on the court case, but in a statement the morning the trial began, he said he had “infinite love” and “confidence” in his son.

“We are inspired by Hunter’s resilience in the face of adversity and the strength he brings to recovery,” the elder Biden said.

Here’s what we know about the case.

Biden faces three federal charges in the case: two counts of making false statements and one count of unlawful possession of a firearm.

The charges all relate to his purchasing a revolver at a Delaware gun store in October 2018 and keeping it for about 11 days.

Biden himself admitted that he was in the throes of a “full-blown addiction” to cocaine at the time.

The two false statement charges stemmed from his lying about his drug use on a federally required form when purchasing a weapon.

Specifically, prosecutors accuse him of falsely claiming he “did not illegally use any stimulant narcotic drugs nor was he addicted to them” when purchasing a Colt Cobra Specialty revolver.

The third count related to possession of a firearm while he was accused of using drugs.

The gun was discarded and found at a grocery store in Greenville, Delaware, sparking an investigation that ultimately led investigators to recover the form.

To convict Biden, prosecutors must convince jurors that he intentionally made false statements on the forms to deceive the stores that sold him handguns.

In addition, they must prove that Mr. Biden was a drug user or drug addict and knowingly possessed a firearm.

U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika has ruled that defense attorneys cannot argue that prosecutors can only reach a guilty verdict by proving that Biden used drugs on the day he purchased the weapons.

Instead, during a pretrial hearing, the judge agreed with prosecutors’ argument that they only needed to prove “recent illegal use sufficient to show that the person actively participated in such conduct.”

In court documents filed before the trial begins, prosecutors said they will rely in part on deeply personal text messages and other communications Biden made during his drug addiction.

In one such text message cited in court documents, Biden called himself “a liar, a thief, an accuser and a user, I’m delusional and an addict, unlike every other addict you know.”

Prosecutors are also expected to rely on the testimony of witnesses, including ex-wife Kathleen Buhle and Biden’s former partner Hallie Biden, who is also the widow of Biden’s brother Beau.

Prosecutors could also cite Biden’s own 2021 memoir, in which he detailed his experience as a drug addict, “waking up 24 hours a day, seven days a week, smoking every 15 minutes.”

“All my energy was focused on taking drugs and arranging to buy them—feeding the beast,” he writes in the book.

While Biden himself has remained silent about the trial, legal documents filed by his attorneys indicate they will focus on how much Biden knew about his addiction at the end of the purchase, as well as the quality of the evidence itself.

His lead lawyer, Abbe Lowell, unsuccessfully sought permission from the court to call an expert witness to testify about the addict’s understanding of his substance abuse problem.

After Biden pleaded not guilty, South Texas Law School professor Drew Stevenson said in an interview with the BBC that illegal gun possession charges often result in “slam-dunk cases.”

“I don’t think there’s any problem [Mr Biden] will be convicted.

The third charge involves Biden possessing a firearm while on drugs, an allegation considered unusual because it is difficult to prove that someone is a drug addict and possesses a gun.

“It’s rare that they go after someone and prosecute them for this,” Professor Stevenson said. “But this was a high-profile figure and MPs were demanding his prosecution.”

Perhaps the most prominent piece of evidence in the trial is the messages on Biden’s infamous laptop, which has been the focus of intense media speculation and conservative news outlets.

The laptop has also been at the center of unsubstantiated theories linking Biden and his father to corruption, which they both deny.

Biden’s own lawyers argued that the computer had been tampered with before it fell into the hands of investigators.

David Weiss, the special counsel appointed to oversee the Hunter Biden investigation, said the tampering argument was a “conspiracy theory” that was “not supported by evidence.”

In a May filing, prosecutors wrote that the laptop contained “significant evidence” of Biden’s guilt.

The two counts of false statements carry a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison, while the third count carries a maximum penalty of 5 years in prison, meaning Biden could face up to 25 years in prison if convicted.

However, the actual penalty for a federal crime is usually less than the maximum penalty provided by law.

If Biden is convicted, the judge in the case will finalize the sentence after considering sentencing guidelines and a variety of other legal factors.

In addition to the gun charges in Delaware, Biden faces separate federal charges in California accusing him of tax evasion, failing to properly file and pay taxes and filing fraudulent tax returns.

Months after last year’s plea deal to resolve the two charges failed miserably, Biden also said: Not guilty to tax charges.