Hunter Biden gun case gets tentative trial date of June 3

The judge presiding over the federal gun case against Hunter Biden has tentatively scheduled a June trial for the criminal charges against the president’s son.

During a scheduling conference in Delaware, U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika on Wednesday said she planned to start the trial the week of June 3.

In the hearing, prosecutors and Biden’s attorneys said the trial would likely take a maximum of nine days — one or two days for jury selection, three to five days for the prosecution to present its case and one to two days for the defense.

“The actual trial days and length of trial will be determined at a later date,” a posting on the court docket read after the hearing.

Biden was indicted in September on three counts tied to possession of a gun while using narcotics. Two of the counts accuse him of having completed a form falsely indicating he was not using illegal drugs when he bought a Colt Cobra revolver in October 2018, and the third alleges he possessed a firearm while using a narcotic.

Two of the counts carry maximum prison sentences of 10 years, while the third has a maximum of five years.

Biden has pleaded not guilty to the charges. His attorney, Abbe Lowell, has filed numerous motions to dismiss the case, all of which are still pending.

One potential complication for a June 3 start date is a scheduled status conference for the same day in the federal tax case against Biden in California. That case is scheduled to go to trial on June 20, and a prosecutor from special counsel David Weiss’ office told Noreika on Wednesday that the California case could “last several weeks,” into mid or late July.

Noreika suggested both sides see if the date of the status conference could be moved since Weiss’ office is also prosecuting that case.

The gun and tax cases were brought against Biden after a yearslong investigation by Weiss, the U.S. Attorney for Delaware who was appointed by former President Donald Trump.

Prosecutors and Biden’s attorneys reached a plea agreement in July of last year that would have resolved both cases. Biden was set to plead guilty to two misdemeanor counts of failing to pay his taxes in return for prosecutors’ recommending probation, and a separate felony gun charge for illegally owning the handgun would have been dropped in two years if Biden honored the terms of what is known as a diversion agreement.

The agreement fell apart after Noreika raised questions about some of the details of the deal, including one provision that theoretically could have protected Biden from being charged with other tax-related crimes in the same time period.

Biden has pleaded not guilty in the California case, and his lawyer has moved to have those charges dismissed as well.