Hunter Biden, who was recently convicted of three felony offenses in a federal gun trial, made a surprising move by initially requesting a new trial but later withdrawing the motion without explanation. His defense attorneys filed the motion in the morning, only to ask the court to remove it from the docket shortly after, leaving the public puzzled about the sudden change.
The court filings that were subsequently removed argued that a technical issue related to pretrial appeals should have prevented the trial judge from proceeding to a jury trial in Delaware. This latest legal maneuver is part of a series of attempts by Biden's legal team to delay or derail the case, all of which have been unsuccessful in court.
The request for a new trial came after Hunter Biden's historic conviction, marking the first time the son of a sitting US president faced trial while his father was in office. The legal dispute revolves around the concept of a 'mandate,' which is a mechanism through which appellate courts notify lower courts of their decisions, allowing the lower court to regain jurisdiction over the case.
In this case, Biden's lawyers claimed that despite losing their pretrial appeals, the 3rd US Circuit Court of Appeals had not issued the final 'mandate' necessary to return the case to District Judge Maryellen Noreika, who oversaw the jury trial that resulted in guilty verdicts on all charges.
The jury found Hunter Biden guilty of three felonies related to his purchase of a revolver in 2018, concluding that he had lied about his drug use on federal background check forms and possessed the weapon while addicted to or using illegal drugs. The prosecution relied on evidence from Biden's memoir and testimony from former partners to make their case.
Despite these legal challenges, Hunter Biden is also facing a separate trial on federal tax offenses scheduled to begin in September, to which he has pleaded not guilty. The outcome of these legal battles will continue to draw attention due to his high-profile status as the son of the current US president.
