In a surprising turn of events, Hunter Biden requested a new trial for his federal gun case, only to withdraw the request without explanation shortly after being convicted of three felony offenses.
Biden’s defense team filed a motion for a new trial in the morning, but then decided to remove it from the docket, refusing to publicly disclose their reasoning. Despite repeated attempts to delay or dismiss the case, all previous legal maneuvers by Biden have been unsuccessful in court.
The court filings that were subsequently removed argued that a technical issue with pretrial appeals should have prevented the trial judge from proceeding to a jury trial in Delaware. This challenge mirrors Biden’s previous unsuccessful attempts to halt the case.
“The Court empaneled a jury and proceeded to trial before the Court of Appeals returned jurisdiction to the Court by issuing its mandate. Consequently, the conviction must be vacated here,” Biden’s lawyers wrote in the filing reviewed by CNN.
This request for a new trial comes after Hunter Biden made history as the first son of a sitting US president to face trial while his father was in office.
The latest legal developments concern the issue of a “mandate,” where an appellate court notifies the lower court of its decision, allowing the case to proceed as necessary. Despite losing pretrial appeals, Biden’s legal team claims that the 3rd US Circuit Court of Appeals never issued its final mandate to return the case to Judge Maryellen Noreika, who presided over the recent jury trial that resulted in guilty verdicts on all charges.
Despite these legal challenges, Noreika has maintained jurisdiction over the case and believes she and the federal appellate court can proceed with the trial.
In the recent trial, a Delaware jury found Hunter Biden guilty of three felonies related to his purchase of a revolver in 2018. The jury unanimously determined that he had lied about his drug use on federal background check forms and possessed the gun while addicted to or using illegal drugs.
Hunter Biden, who has publicly discussed his struggles with alcoholism and drug addiction, is also set to face a separate trial on federal tax offenses in September, where he has pleaded not guilty to nine charges.
