Hunter Biden loses appeal bid to dismiss criminal gun case in Delaware before trial

A
federal
appeals
court
on
Thursday
rejected
a
request
by

Hunter
Biden
to
toss
the
pending

criminal
gun
case
against
him,
saying
his
appeal
was
premature.

The
ruling
clears
the
way
for
Hunter
Biden’s
trial
in
the
case
to
start
on
June
3
in

U.S.
District
Court
in
Delaware.
Biden
is
the
son
of
President

Joe
Biden.

In
its
ruling
Thursday,
a
three-judge
panel
on
the

3rd
Circuit
U.S.
Court
of
Appeals
said
Hunter
Biden
failed
to
show
that
the
trial
judge’s
decision
in
April
allowing
the
gun
case
to
proceed
were
appealable
before
any
final
judgment,
which
could
include
his
sentencing.

The
appeals
panel,
whose
decision
was
unanimous,
did
not
rule
on
the
merits
of
Biden’s
arguments
that
the
indictment
should
be
dismissed.

If
Biden
is
convicted
at
trial,
he
could
renew
the
arguments
for
dismissal
with
the
same
appeals
court
that
it
declined
to
consider
in
its
order
Thursday.

Hunter Biden’s
lawyer,
Abbe
Lowell,
suggested
that
he
will
ask
a
full
panel
of
judges
on
the
3rd
Circuit
to
reconsider Biden’s
appeal,
and
could
even
ask
the
U.S.
Supreme
Court
to
consider
the
case.

“In
reviewing
the
panel’s
decision,
we
believe
the
issues
involved
are
too
important
and
further
review
of
our
request
is
appropriate,”
Lowell
said.

Biden
is
charged
with
three
criminal
counts
related
to
his
purchase
of
a
handgun
while
he
was
addicted
to
illegal
drugs.
He
has
pleaded
not
guilty.

In
late
2023,
Biden’s
lawyers
asked
U.S.
District
Judge
Maryellen
Noreika
to
dismiss
the
indictment
against
him
on
three
separate
grounds.

The
first
was
that
the
indictment
violated
a
non-prosecution
provision
in
a
pretrial
diversion
agreement
that
Biden
and
prosecutors
signed
before
a
planned
deal
in
the
case

to
avoid
an
indictment
blew
up
last
year.

In
their
second
motion
to
dismiss,
Biden’s
lawyers
claimed
he
was
vindictively
and
selectively
prosecuted
because
his
father
is
the
president.
Under
this
line
of
argument,
the
indictment
violates
the
separation-of-power
provision
in
the
U.S.
Constitution
because
it
was
improperly
motivated
by
Republicans
in
Congress
who
have
made
him
a
political
whipping
boy
to
attack
the
president.

The
third
motion
to
dismiss
argued
that
the
appointment
of
David
Weiss
as
special
counsel
for
the
Department
of
Justice
to
handle
Biden’s
cases
violated
federal
rules
requiring
special
counsels
to
be
selected
from
outside
the
U.S.
government.
Weiss
was
U.S.
Attorney
for
Delaware
at
the
time
of
his
appointment
as
special
counsel,
and
he
remains
in
that
office.

Noreika
in
separate
rulings
in
April
rejected
all
three
arguments
for
dismissal
of
the
indictment.

Biden
is
separately
charged
by
Weiss
in
Los
Angeles
federal
court
with
tax
crimes.
The
judge
in
that
case
in
early
April
denied
eight
defense
motions
to
dismiss
that
case,
where
Biden
has
pleaded
not
guilty.

This
is
developing
news.
Check
back
for
updates.