Federal judge refuses to postpone Hunter Biden’s June 3 trial in gun case
By Jack Forrest, CNN
Wilmington, Delaware (CNN) — The federal judge overseeing Hunter Biden’s gun case in Delaware refused on Tuesday to delay the June 3 trial date despite pleas from lawyers for the president’s son who said they would not be prepared in time.
“I trust everyone can get done what needs to be done,” US District Judge Maryellen Noreika said during a status conference in Wilmington.
Hunter Biden’s lawyer Abbe Lowell argued the defense team would not be able to accomplish all that needs to be done in under three weeks. Lowell also pointed to the work needed to prepare for his client’s other trial set for late June in California, where he is facing a federal tax indictment.
“It cannot be done in two weeks, it just cannot,” Lowell said, adding later, “I am pleading with your honor” to allow for more time.
Lowell said he had not agreed to the June 3 date and thought it was only “penciled in.” He suggested either an early September or even mid-July date to allow the defense more time to line up witnesses — who he said were difficult to find because people were “reluctant” to be part of a public case in the current political environment.
Noreika responded: “You said you were available in June.”
After Noreika made her decision not to delay the trial, Lowell asked for the deadlines for pretrial court filings to extended.
“I don’t need to be your scheduling secretary,” Noreika said, telling Lowell to work out new filing deadlines with the prosecution ahead of the trial date.
Prosecutors claim Hunter Biden illegally purchased and possessed a revolver in 2018, which violated federal law because he was using illicit drugs at the time. He has pleaded not guilty to all three felony counts.
Tuesday’s decision from the judge came after Hunter Biden’s latest attempts to throw out the case were rejected in back-to-back rulings last week from the 3rd US Circuit Court of Appeals and Noreika.
Lowell said that he plans to ask the full 3rd US Circuit Court of Appeals to reconsider last week’s decision — and that he’ll seek an injunction to pause the trial until the appeals court rules.
A panel of appellate judges in California also cleared the way Tuesday for Hunter Biden’s separate tax-related trial to start in late June.
Hunter Biden’s efforts to appeal several decisions by the federal judge overseeing the tax case against him were rejected by a panel of 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals judges. The judges found they didn’t have jurisdiction to review the lower court’s decisions before trial.
Hunter Biden has been accused of engaging in a yearslong tax-avoidance conspiracy and faces nine counts in California. He has pleaded not guilty to all nine charges.
This story has been updated with additional reporting.
CNN’s Holmes Lybrand contributed to this report.
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