Hunter Biden files and quickly withdraws motion for new trial in criminal gun case
Hunter Biden's legal team filed and quickly withdrew a motion for a new trial on Monday, nearly a week after the first son was found guilty on all charges related to his purchase of a firearm in 2018.
Biden's legal team, led by attorney Abbe Lowell, filed a motion in Delaware federal court on Monday morning requesting a new trial, arguing the court lacked jurisdiction as two appeals in the case are still pending.
"The Third Circuit [appeals court], however, did not then and has not yet issued its mandate as to the orders dismissing either appeal," Lowell wrote in the filing. "Thus, when this Court empaneled the jury on June 3, 2024 and proceeded to trial, it was without jurisdiction to do so."
The motion, however, was quickly withdrawn from a court document website, Reuters reported.
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"The Motion for a New Trial (formerly DI 233) has been deleted at the request of counsel," a note filed on a docket website reads, calling it a "correcting entry," the outlet reported.
Biden was found guilty last Tuesday of making a false statement in the purchase of a gun, making a false statement related to information required to be kept by a federally licensed gun dealer, and possession of a gun by a person who is an unlawful user of or addicted to a controlled substance.
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Prosecutors worked to prove that Biden lied on a federal firearm form, known as ATF Form 4473, in October 2018, when he ticked a box labeled "No" when asked if he is an unlawful user of substances or addicted to controlled substances. Biden purchased the gun from a store in Wilmington.
Biden pleaded not guilty in the case.
Biden has a well-documented history of drug abuse, which was most notably documented in his 2021 memoir, "Beautiful Things," which walks readers through his previous need to smoke crack cocaine every 20 minutes, how his addiction was so prolific that he referred to himself as a "crack daddy" to drug dealers, and anecdotes revolving around drug deals, such as a Washington, D.C., crack dealer Biden nicknamed "Bicycles."
Lowell did not dispute Biden's long history with substance abuse amid the trial, which also includes an addiction to alcohol. The defense instead argued that on the day Biden bought the Cobra Colt .38, he did not consider himself an active drug addict, citing the first son's stint in rehab ahead of the October 2018 purchase.
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Prosecutors, however, argued Biden was addicted to crack cocaine before, during and after he bought the handgun. Just one day after the gun purchase, prosecutors showed the court that Biden texted Hallie Biden, his sister-in-law turned girlfriend, to say he was "waiting for a dealer named Mookie." A day after that text, he texted that he was "sleeping on a car smoking crack on 4th Street and Rodney" in Wilmington.
A jury of his peers deliberated for roughly three hours across two days before finding Biden guilty on each charge.
He will be sentenced later this year, though no date has yet been issued.
Biden faces a total maximum prison time of 25 years for the three charges. Each count also carries a maximum fine of $250,000 and three years of supervised release. Biden, however, is a first-time offender, making it unlikely he will face maximum penalties when he is eventually sentenced.
Fox News Digital reached out to Lowell's office for comment regarding the withdrawn motion, but did not immediately receive a response.