Hunter Biden Trial Day 6: Jury begins deliberations after closing arguments

WILMINGTON, Del. — Jurors in Hunter Biden’s gun trial began deliberating Monday after they heard new evidence from a witness about his drug use in October 2018, around the time he is alleged to have illegally purchased a firearm.

Prosecutors rested their case after they told jurors that Biden was a “habitual” user of drugs from 2015 to 2019, a period that overlaps with his gun possession, and that he knew he was an addict and even wrote extensively about it in his memoir.

His lead defense attorney, Abbe Lowell, said that while Biden may be an addict, prosecutors had not proven that he knowingly lied beyond reasonable doubt on the form he used to buy the gun.

“With this very high burden, it’s time to end this case,” Lowell said.

After a response from the prosecutors, U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika completed her instructions to the jurors. They began deliberations but did not reach a verdict and will resume Tuesday morning.

Biden was embraced by his wife, Melissa Cohen Biden, his uncle James Biden and others. At times, he held his palms together on the table as he watched the jury and the prosecutors.

Here’s what you missed on Day 6 of Hunter Biden’s trial:

Closing statements

Assistant special counsel Leo Wise pointed at the swell of Biden confidants seated behind the defense table as he began his closing arguments, a crowd that has included Biden’s friends and close relatives, including his wife and his stepmother, first lady Jill Biden. Melissa Cohen Biden, Jill Biden and his half-sister, Ashley, all wore black.

“All of this is not evidence,” Wise said, gesturing at three packed rows. “People sitting in the gallery are not evidence.”

The jurors may recognize them or may have seen them reacting to something,