Reuters
La Jornada Newspaper
Tuesday, June 4, 2024, p. 26
Wilmington. Jury selection for the criminal trial against Hunter Biden, son of the US president, in a historic process that could influence the elections for the White House, began yesterday, four days after Republican Donald Trump became the first former president to be found guilty of criminal charges.
In this context, the head of the White House described Trump as convicted felon
and stated: For the first time in US history, a former president who is a convicted felon seeks the presidency
, speaking to a small group of donors in Greenwich, Connecticut. Biden asserted that Trump’s attacks on the United States Justice system are most harmful
.
Hunter Biden, 54, arrived at court to face the first trial ever held against a son of a sitting president, in which he faces accusations of three felonies stemming from the purchase and possession of a revolver in 2018.
He is accused of lying about his illegal drug use when he bought a revolver Colt Cobra 38 caliber and illegally possessing the weapon for 11 days in October 2018.
Judge Maryellen Noreika began selecting jurors, many of whom said they had family members or acquaintances with drug problems.
Few jurors expressed strong political opinions.
All 12 jurors must agree that he is guilty after a reasonable doubt to convict him.
The president’s son, who has written endlessly about his addiction, claims that at the time he bought the gun he did not consider himself an addict and has stated that he has been sober since 2019.
If convicted, Hunter Biden faces a sentence of up to 25 years in prison, although since he has no record the sentence will be much lighter, even without prison.
Hunter Biden’s wife Jill, Melissa Cohen Biden, and her half-sister Ashley attended the trial in Wilmington.
Jill and I love our son and are so proud of the man he is today.
Joe Biden said in a statement, adding that many families have loved ones who have overcome addictions.
The trial of Hunter, who has pleaded not guilty, gives Republicans the opportunity to divert attention from the legal problems of Trump, who faces three more lawsuits.
Last Thursday, a jury in New York found Trump guilty of 34 counts of falsifying accounting documents to cover up the payment to a porn movie star in exchange for his silence, during the final stretch of the 2016 electoral race.
