Home court advantage unlikely to get Hunter Biden an acquittal, expert says

By Susan Ferrechio - The Washington Times - Thursday, June 6, 2024

The president’s son, on trial for three felony gun charges, was lucky to be facing a jury in Wilmington, Delaware, otherwise known as Biden country.

Despite President Biden’s public statement supporting his son, the courtroom presence of his powerful stepmother, first lady Jill Biden, and his father’s looming presence in Wilmington, legal experts say Hunter Biden is unlikely to be acquitted thanks to a pile of evidence against him.

“Hunter’s only possible win is a hung jury and a mistrial because of juror sympathy or politics. An acquittal isn’t a possibility,” former federal prosecutor Neama Rahmani told The Washington Times.

The prosecution was expected to wrap up on Friday after a parade of witnesses, including his ex-wife and ex-girlfriend, testified about Hunter Biden’s rampant use of drugs during the time he bought a Colt Cobra .38 handgun in October 2018.

Their testimony likely makes it impossible for jurors to acquit him of charges that he lied on a federal form declaring he was not a drug addict or user when he bought the gun, ammunition and a speed-loading cartridge from a firearms store in Wilmington.

He is charged with two counts related to false statements in purchasing a firearm and a third count of illegally obtaining a firearm while addicted to drugs.

Prosecutors in the case have also used Hunter Biden’s words against him, taken from his 2021 memoir, which focuses heavily on his drug addiction. They showed the jury incriminating photos and messages from his discarded laptop computer that document his drug use at the time of the gun purchase.

“Hunter’s own words in his memoir, the images in his laptop, the messages to and about drug dealers, and the testimony of three different exes is too much for any defendant to overcome,” Mr. Rahmani said.

Hunter Biden could face decades in prison if convicted.

Former prosecutor Phil Holloway believes the powerful Biden family could still hold sway over jurors, who might refuse to convict him despite the evidence.

Mr. Holloway said the jury isn’t watching only the case presented in the courtroom.

Mrs. Biden took a front-row seat in the courtroom several days this week, including on Monday, her birthday, to support her embattled stepson. Dressed in brightly colored suits, Mrs. Biden paid close attention to the trial. She took notes and hugged Hunter Biden as he left the courtroom during breaks. Hunter Biden’s half sister, Ashley, several in-laws and powerful Delaware-based Biden allies, including Richard “Mouse” Smith, president of Delaware’s NAACP branch, made appearances.

“There’s another presentation, and it’s the unspoken one: The first lady and family in the courtroom interacting with the defendant,” said Mr. Holloway, who hosts a legal podcast on YouTube. “All this is taking place in front of the jury. Let there be no doubt: They are watching how mother and son are interacting with each other, and it will influence them.”

The jury may have also read the president’s public statement of support for Hunter Biden, which he issued the day the trial started.

“I am the president, but I am also a Dad. Jill and I love our son, and we are so proud of the man he is today,” Mr. Biden said. He added that Hunter Biden’s recovery from drug abuse is “inspiring.”

The president has publicly declared his distance from the case.

On Thursday, he told ABC News he would accept the trial’s outcome, no matter what. Asked whether he would rule out a pardon for his son, Mr. Biden responded, “Yes.”

Two days before the trial began, Hunter Biden took a public bike ride with his father near the president’s vacation home in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware.

Mr. Holloway and other legal analysts say the jury may be sympathetic to the president’s son and may not be able to unanimously agree to convict him.

More than two dozen potential jurors said they knew somebody addicted to drugs, and several of the jurors said they have close relatives with current or past substance abuse problems.

Prosecutors may be trying to evoke sympathy from the jury to thwart a guilty verdict.

“I’m not going to rule out a jury nullification because that’s clearly what they are going for,” Mr. Holloway said.

Wilmington, population 71,000, is the headquarters of Mr. Biden’s reelection campaign and home to dozens of Biden campaign staffers who mingle in the community.

“This is all taking place in Biden’s backyard,” Mr. Holloway said.