A federal judge on May 24 issued several rulings setting parameters for the presentation of evidence in Hunter Biden’s upcoming trial on felony gun charges. Both the prosecution and defense won favorable rulings on motions.
U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika approved a motion from Mr. Biden, 54, to exclude references during the trial to his discharge from the U.S. Navy and child support proceedings of which he was part. She also granted motions to exclude references to tax fraud charges Mr. Biden faces in California and to bar prosecutors from describing his profligate spending as an “extravagant lifestyle.”
Judge Norieka, an appointee of former President Donald Trump, said the government may talk about Mr. Biden’s spending, including how he spent $900 on a revolver he bought in Delaware in 2018.
The government also scored a key win when the judge ruled that the prosecution did not need to prove Mr. Biden was using drugs on the day he bought the gun. Prosecutors will only have to prove he was a user at the time.
She also agreed, however, to consider defense questions about the contents of an infamous laptop that Mr. Biden allegedly dropped off at a Delaware repair shop.
Hunter Biden’s attorneys want to raise questions about the authenticity of the laptop’s data at trial while prosecutors say that there’s no evidence it has been compromised and that a drawn-out fight over it would be a waste of time.
