Hunter Biden’s last-ditch effort to throw out the federal gun charges against him failed ahead of his criminal trial set to begin next week.
The Third Circuit Court of Appeals rejected on Tuesday Hunter Biden’s appeal of Judge Maryellen Noreika’s decision to deny his motion to dismiss the gun charges on Second Amendment grounds. The court dismissed Biden’s appeal because it lacks jurisdiction.
“Criminal defendants ordinarily cannot appeal until after final judgment,” the appellate panel wrote in a two-page order. “The defendant’s Second Amendment defense does not implicate a right not to be tried that can be collaterally appealed.”
The panel consists of one appointee by former president George W. Bush, another by former president Barack Obama, and an appointee of Hunter’s father, President Joe Biden.
The court suggested Hunter Biden’s Second Amendment appeal could be reviewed after final judgement. Biden’s attorneys are set to make the Second Amendment a major component of their defense, court filings show, despite President Biden’s support for stringent gun restrictions.
Hunter Biden is facing three federal gun charges in connection to a firearm purchase he made while he was addicted to crack cocaine. Prosecutors are accusing Biden of lying on mandated gun purchase forms and possessing the firearm during a time period when he was addicted to hard drugs. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Biden’s defense team also appears prepared to dispute the meaning of terms such as “is,” “addict,” and “user” to argue Biden was not a drug addict at the precise moment he filled out the forms and purchased the gun.
Last week, Noreika ruled the prosecution would not have to show Biden was using a controlled substance on the day of the gun purchase, a major win for the prosecution. Prosecutors will be allowed to use portions of Biden’s memoir and an abundance of additional evidence to prove Biden was addicted to controlled substances around the time he purchases the firearm and possessed it.
One of the prosecution’s key witnesses, Hunter Biden’s ex-lover and Beau Biden’s widow Hallie Biden, received a visit on Sunday from Joe Biden. Hallie Biden is expected to testify about Hunter’s drug usage at the time of the gun purchase and establish his presence in Delaware at the time, court filings show.
The White House said Hunter’s trial did not come up during Joe Biden’s visit because the purpose of the visit was the ninth anniversary of Beau Biden’s death.
This afternoon, Noreika denied Hunter Biden’s attempt to appeal special counsel David Weiss’s prosecution based on supposed violations of the appropriations clause. Biden’s attorneys will likely file another last-minute appeal of her decision to the third circuit.
The gun trial will begin on June 3 with jury selection.