Judge refuses to delay Hunter Biden's gun trial

UPI
Hunter Biden, son of President Joe Biden, attends the 2024 Easter Egg Roll on the South Lawn of the White House on April 1. A federal judge refused to delay in gun trial on Tuesday. Photo by Michael Reynolds/UPI

May 15 (UPI) -- A federal judge rejected Hunter Biden's bid to delay a trial on gun charges in Delaware that is set to begin on June 3.

Biden's attorneys had asked U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika to move the trial to September. His lawyer Abbe Lowell had suggested he may ask the Third U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and even the U.S. Supreme Court to weigh in.

Noreika rejected the arguments, citing her jurisdiction under case law, adding the case against Biden was not "terribly complicated."

Lowell sought to delay the case as he said Biden's legal team is searching for experts on addiction and chain of custody details for a supposed cocaine pouch found allegedly belonging to President Joe Biden's son. Prosecutors are charging that the younger Biden had the pouch with him when he purchased a weapon in October 2018.

"We have not been delaying, we have not been tardy," Lowell told Noreika on Tuesday, according to Politico. "We have been trying. People are reluctant to become involved in this case."

Noreika, an appointee of former President Donald Trump, reminded Lowell that he had previously agreed to the date and chastised him for not being prepared for trial in June.

The case, originally brought to special counsel David Weiss, charges Biden with three felony counts for allegedly owning a gun while using drugs and making a false statement on a form when he bought his gun in 2018.

Earlier this month, a three-judge panel from the appeals court rejected efforts by Biden's team to get the gun charges dismissed.