First son Hunter Biden lost his late-stage appeal Tuesday to throw out the felony gun charges against him before his trial starts in Delaware next week.
Hunter, 54, had appealed a May 9 ruling by trial judge Maryellen Noreika dismissing his bid to quash the trio of counts against him on the grounds that the prosecution violated his Second Amendment rights, but the Philadelphia-based Third Circuit Court of Appeals ruled they had no standing to intervene.
“Criminal defendants ordinarily cannot appeal until after final judgment,” the three-judge appellate court panel wrote in a two-page order. “The defendant’s Second Amendment defense does not implicate a right not to be tried that can be collaterally appealed.”
The court suggested the Biden scion can have his constitutional defense “reviewed on appeal after final judgment.”
The panel consisted of Judges Thomas Hardiman, nominated to the bench by George W. Bush; Cheryl Ann Krause, nominated by Barack Obama; and Arianna J. Freeman, nominated by Hunter’s father, the current president.
Hunter’s legal team had argued that “[t]he chilling effect on Second Amendment rights caused by both this prosecution and the district court order may persist long after this case is resolved on the merits.”
In her initial ruling, Noreika wrote that laws against drug addicts owning firearms, like the statute under which the first son is charged, were “consistent with this country’s historical tradition of firearm regulation.”
Hunter’s lawyers had cited the June 2022 Supreme Court decision in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen, which struck down a century-old Empire State law restricting the carrying of concealed firearms.
Hunter Biden has pleaded not guilty to all three counts, two of which involve false statements that he was not addicted to drugs when he purchased a .38-caliber revolver on Oct. 12, 2018, and a single count of unlawful possession of a firearm.
In addition to those charges, Hunter Biden is facing six misdemeanor and three felony counts of allegedly bilking Uncle Sam out of more than $1.4 million in federal taxes between 2016 and 2019.
Hunter Biden has also pleaded not guilty to those charges and is slated to stand trial in that case beginning Sept. 5 in Los Angeles.
On Sunday night, President Biden met with Hunter’s sister-in-law-turned-ex-lover Hallie Biden, who prosecutors say they intend to call to testify against the first son.
Hallie Biden, the widow of Hunter’s late brother Beau, who died of brain cancer in 2015, was in a relationship with Hunter at the time he purchased the gun.
On Thursday, Hunter attended a White House state dinner honoring visiting Kenyan President William Ruto. Attorney General Merrick Garland, who elevated Weiss to the special counsel position, was also in attendance.
