Judge issues key rulings in Hunter Biden gun case ahead of June trial

A judge on Friday handed out rulings on evidence attorneys will be able to use in Hunter Biden‘s gun trial, including limiting the types of references special counsel David Weiss can make to the first son’s past spending habits.

Judge Maryellen Noreika issued the decisions during a hearing in Delaware, where Biden appeared with his attorney Abbe Lowell and asked the judge to place certain exclusions on the material Weiss could use against him at trial.

Norieika, a Donald Trump appointee, granted some of the first son’s requests, known as “motions in limine,” but she denied others, according to the Associated Press.

In court papers ahead of the hearing, Biden’s attorneys asked the judge to prohibit prosecutors from referencing his past “extravagant lifestyle,” including references to “lavish” spending or money spent on pornography and strippers. Weiss alleged Biden spent “wildly” on these types of expenses in a separate criminal tax case.

Biden, a recovering drug addict, said such references would be too prejudicial to a jury, but he also acknowledged that any evidence showing drug purchases, cash withdrawals, or the purchase of the revolver at the center of his charges would be fair game.

Noreika largely agreed with Biden but noted that he could open himself up to expanding what evidence becomes relevant should he choose to testify in his own defense.

“There’s a number of issues that may become more contentious should Mr. Biden testify,” Noreika said.

Weiss has charged Biden with three felonies related to a 2018 gun purchase, alleging he lied on a federal form about his drug use to buy a revolver and that he then illegally possessed the revolver for several days. Biden has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Prosecutors said in court filings that they plan to use evidence federal investigators extracted from Biden’s computer data against him, but Biden has repeatedly challenged the authenticity of the data as well as raised concerns with the government’s methods of obtaining it.

At the hearing, Noreika signaled she would allow Biden to bring these challenges up during the trial. The judge noted that this could lengthen the duration of the trial to two weeks. The trial is set to begin June 3 and was initially estimated to last up to six days.

In a win for Weiss, Noreika also gave the special counsel some leniency on how he goes about proving Biden was addicted to drugs at the time of his purchase. Against the wishes of Biden’s attorneys, the judge said prosecutors would not have to prove Biden used drugs on the specific day of the gun purchase. The judge also said prosecutors could draw from portions of Biden’s memoir Beautiful Things, in which he details his battles with drug addiction.

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Biden is also facing criminal charges brought by Weiss in California over allegations he failed to file taxes and filed false returns during a four-year period beginning in 2016.

The first son filed similar requests to exclude evidence in that case, but the judge has not ruled on them and recently postponed the trial from June until September.