Photo: Kevin Dietsch Getty Images via Agence France-Presse Hallie Biden, the widow of the accused's brother
Michael Kunzelman – Associated Press, Randall Chase – Associated Press, Colleen Long – Associated Press, Mike Catalini – Associated Press to Wilmongton
Posted at 6:59 p.m.
- United States
At Hunter Biden's trial for violating US gun laws, the widow of the defendant's brother on Thursday recounted the moment she found the gun in his truck, describing how she put it in a leather pouch, stuffed it in a shopping bag, and threw it in a trash can outside a market near her house.
“I panicked and wanted to get rid of it,” she testified about finding the gun and ammunition in the vehicle’s console in October 2018. “I didn't want him to get hurt, and I didn't want my kids to find him and hurt themselves. »
The purchase of the Colt revolver by Hunter Biden and the fact that Hallie Biden got rid of it are at the heart of the accusations against the son of the American president. Federal prosecutors say Hunter Biden was in the throes of a heavy crack addiction when he purchased the gun. He was charged with three felonies: lying to a federally licensed gun dealer, making a false statement on the application that he was not a drug user, and illegally possessing the gun for 11 days.
Hunter Biden, who pleaded not guilty, said the Justice Department was bowing to political pressure from Republicans and was being unfairly targeted. President Joe Biden, meanwhile, said in an ABC interview that he would accept the jury's verdict and ruled out a pardon for his son.
Hallie Biden, who had a brief romantic relationship with Hunter after the death of her brother, Beau Biden, in 2015, testified that from the time Hunter returned to Delaware after a trip to California in 2018 until she threw away his gun, she didn't see him using drugs. This period included the day he purchased the gun.
Much of his testimony focused on October 23, 2018, 11 days after he bought the gun and when she threw it away. Hunter stayed with her and seemed exhausted. Asked by the prosecutor if it appeared Hunter was using drugs at the time, she responded, “He could have. »
While Hunter was sleeping at home, Hallie Biden went to check on her car. She said she hoped to help him get or stay sober, free of alcohol and cocaine. She said she found remains of crack cocaine and drug paraphernalia. She also found the gun Hunter purchased in a box with a broken lock that prevented it from closing all the way. There was also ammo.
Hallie said she considered hiding the gun, but thought her kids might find it, so she decided to throw away.
“I realize it was a stupid idea now, but I was freaked out,” she said.
Hunter Biden watched expressionlessly from the courtroom during his testimony. She told jurors she found crack cocaine in her home and saw him using it. She was with him from time to time when he saw drug dealers.
After Hallie Biden threw the unloaded gun into the trash at Janssen Market, he noticed it was missing and asked her if she had taken it.
“Are you crazy ?” he wrote to her. He told her to go back to the market to get the gun.
Surveillance footage played for jurors showed her rummaging through the trash looking for the weapon, but it was not there. She asked the store managers if anyone had taken out the trash.
Hallie said Hunter told her to file a police report because the gun was registered to him. She called the police while she was still at the store. Officers located the man who had inadvertently taken the gun and other recyclables from the trash and recovered it. The case was eventually dismissed due to the lack of cooperation of Hunter Biden, who was allegedly the victim.
Jurors also heard from the gun store clerk, who testified about how he walked Hunter Biden through a few options before choosing the $900 gun. The employee then watched as the customer filled out the firearm transaction record, a document required for a firearm purchase, and saw him check “no” to the question about whether he was “illegally using drugs or addicted” to marijuana, stimulants, narcotics or any other controlled substance.
Gordon Cleveland, a former employee of StarQuest Shooters & Survival Supply, said he saw Biden sign the form, which includes a warning about the consequences of submitting false information.
During his cross-examination Thursday, Lowell pointed out that some of the questions on the form are in the present tense, such as “are you an illegal user of or addicted to” drugs. He suggested that Hunter Biden did not believe he had an active drug problem.
If convicted, Hunter Biden faces up to 25 years in prison, although that first-time offenders don't come close to the maximum, and it's unclear if the judge was giving him time behind bars.