Biden Blow: Judge Blocks Key Defense Evidence and Witness on Eve of Hunter Biden Gun Trial
While it isn't unusual for Hunter to visit and attend events at the White House, his presence in important discussions has reportedly shocked senior White House staff.
June 3 2024, Updated 9:05 a.m. ET
Hunter Biden suffered two devastating legal blows just one day before his federal gun trial kicked off in Delaware this week, RadarOnline.com can report.
In a surprising development to come before Hunter’s federal gun trial kicked off on Monday in Wilmington, the federal judge overseeing the case – Judge Maryellen Noreika – handed two setbacks to the defense.
Hallie said Hunter told her to file a police report after he discovered she threw away the gun.
The judge blocked an expert witness and excluded a crucial piece of evidence that President Joe Biden’s son hoped to use in his defense, according to CNN.
The first setback reportedly came when Judge Noreika granted a request from Special Counsel David Weiss to block Hunter’s expert witness from testifying.
The defense's expert – a psychiatrist from Columbia University – reportedly intended to challenge the prosecution's claim that Hunter was aware of his addiction at the time of purchasing a gun in October 2018.
"The inadequacy of Defendant’s expert disclosure for Dr. [Elie] Aoun leaves the government in the dark as to what his opinions about the facts of this case will be,” the judge wrote, “thus rendering the government unable to prepare for trial."
Judge Noreika granted a request from Special Counsel David Weiss to block Hunter’s expert witness from testifying.
Meanwhile, Judge Noreika also prohibited Hunter's lawyers from using an altered version of the federal firearms form Hunter completed in October 2018 – a form which was allegedly later modified by gun store employees in 2021.
The defense apparently hoped to use the altered federal gun form to undermine the credibility of the Wilmington gun store employees and further highlight alleged political bias on the prosecutors' side.
Judge Noreika ultimately deemed the altered form "irrelevant and inadmissible” and criticized the defense for promoting "conspiratorial" theories and "unsupported rhetoric" about the employees' motivations.
Judge Noreika also ruled that only the original form – ATF Form 4473 – would be presented to the jury.
Judge Noreika also prohibited Hunter's lawyers from using an altered version of the federal firearms form Hunter completed in October 2018.
The original form showed that Hunter declared that he was not using or addicted to drugs when he purchased the gun. The prosecutors argued that President Biden’s son was still addicted to crack cocaine at the time and cited Hunter’s own memoir as proof of that claim.
“Any probative value it arguably has is substantially outweighed by a danger of unfair prejudice, confusion of issues, and misleading the jury,” Judge Noreika wrote regarding the altered federal gun form that Hunter’s defense team sought to introduce as evidence.
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As RadarOnline.com previously reported, Hunter’s federal gun trial is scheduled to kick off with jury selection on Monday morning in Wilmington, Delaware.
President Biden’s embattled son was first charged on three counts connected to the federal gun case back in September 2023.
President Biden’s embattled son was first charged on three counts connected to the federal gun case back in September 2023.
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The counts included two false statements for allegedly lying about his drug use when purchasing a firearm in October 2018 and one for the unlawful possession of a gun by a drug user or addict.
Hunter pleaded not guilty to the federal gun charges against him in October 2023.
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