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By Dan Gooding and Erin Keller
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The jury in Hunter Biden's federal gun trial was sent home for the day, after spending an hour deliberating the fate of the President's son after hearing five days of testimony.
Biden, 54, is facing three federal charges relating to the purchase of a firearm, where prosecutors argue he lied on federal documents about his drug use.
"We have had Hunter's life in our hands, but now we have to give it to you," Hunter Biden's attorney Abbe Lowell said to the jury during closing arguments.
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The judge denied the defense team's pleas for more favorable language in jury instructions Monday before they were sent out to deliberate their verdict.
Judge Maryellen Noreika denied the petition, which would have instructed the jury to acquit Biden if he didn't know he was a drug user or addict when he bought and owned the gun in question in October 2018.
Biden, 54, is the first child of a sitting United State president to be criminally tried in federal court, denies the three charges against him.
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After deciding not to testify in court in Wilmington, Delaware, Biden will now await the jury's verdict. Court was adjourned for deliberations at 3:35 pm. Monday, with the jury getting around an hour to start deliberating before being sent home for the day.
Their discussions will resume at 9 a.m. Tuesday morning.
Federal prosecutor David Hines took issue with Lowell's claim during his closing arguments rebuttal, telling the jury, "You don't have his life in your hands."
Hines told the jury they only have to "determine the facts" and "speak the truth."
A sentencing would be decided by Judge Maryellen Noreika, he reminded them.
The six men and six women heard testimony from 10 witnesses for the prosecution, along with two for the defense, over four days last week.
Among those called by the prosecution were Kathleen Buhle, Biden's ex-wife, and Hallie Biden, his brother Beau's widow and his former lover. Both spoke about his drug use in the 2010s.
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"It was a terrible experience that I went through and I'm embarrassed of that period of my life," Hallie Biden explained last week, speaking of her drug use during the time they were together.
During closing arguments, prosecutors said they did not have to prove Biden was using at the time he bought the gun, but added that the testimonies spoke for themselves.
"Anyone who holds a crack pipe to their mouth every 15 minutes knows they're a drug addict," federal prosecutor David Hines told the jury Monday afternoon.
By contrast, Biden's daughter Naomi gave an emotional testimony on Friday, in which she acknowledged her father's struggles with addiction but said he had seemed to be doing better around the time he purchased the gun.
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Other witnesses included the man who sold Biden the gun, Gordon Cleveland, and DEA agent Joshua Romig.
Cleveland sold Hunter Biden the handgun in question, a Colt Cobra .38 revolver, in 2018 in Wilmington. He told jurors he saw Hunter Biden sign the application form, on which one question asked whether the buyer as "an unlawful user or addicted to" any controlled substances, to which the president's son wrote "no."
Hunter Biden reportedly paid $900 for the weapon.
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The defendant has been surrounded by family and friends throughout the hearing, with his wife by his side and the First Lady – his stepmother – in the room every day except one.
Melissa Cohen Biden, 38, is Hunter Biden's current wife. The pair have been married for five years.
The South African filmmaker and activist met him in 2019 and he proposed to her just a week later. The pair had a son in 2020, who they named Beau in honor of Hunter Biden's late brother.
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His father, Joe Biden, has spent much of the day nearby in Wilmington, but for a Juneteenth event.
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