The 12 jurors deliberated for about an hour after closing arguments. They will resume at 9am ET (1pm GMT) on Tuesday.
The jury began deliberations in the case of Hunter Biden, son of United States President Joe Biden, accused of lying about using illegal drugs when he bought a gun in 2018.
The 12 jurors deliberated for about an hour after hearing closing arguments Monday. They will resume at 9am local time (1pm GMT) on Tuesday, a court official said.
“We ask that you consider that the law applies equally to this defendant as it does to any other,” District Attorney Derek Hines told the jury as the first criminal trial of a son of a sitting president reached its final phase.
“When he decided to lie and buy a gun, he broke the law. We ask that you return the only verdict supported by the evidence – guilty,” Hines said.
Hunter Biden, 54, has pleaded not guilty to charges that include lying about his addiction while filling out a government screening document for a Colt Cobra revolver and illegally possessing the gun for 11 days.
Defense attorney Abbe Lowell likened the government’s case to the work of a magician who focuses attention on drug use months or years before the gun purchase to create the illusion that Hunter Biden was a crack user when he purchased the gun.
“They were confused all those years before he got into StarQuest Shooters and all those years after,” Lowell told jurors, referring to the gun store where he made the purchase.
U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika instructed jurors to be impartial. “You have to decide the case based on the evidence,” she said.
‘It was ugly and it was overwhelming’
Over four days of testimony last week, prosecutors offered an intimate look at the younger Biden’s years of struggle with alcohol and crack cocaine abuse, which prosecutors say legally prevented him from purchasing a gun.
In the prosecution’s closing arguments, a government lawyer said common sense’s understanding of Hunter Biden’s grim testimony about his constant drug use filled any gaps in the evidence about his behavior at the time of the gun purchase.
“It was personal, ugly and overwhelming,” federal prosecutor Leo Wise told the jury, referring to testimony about Hunter Biden’s drug use. “But it was also necessary.”
The trial in U.S. District Court in Wilmington, Delaware, follows another historic first – the May 30 criminal conviction of Donald Trump, the first U.S. president to be found guilty of a serious crime. Trump is the Republican opponent of Joe Biden, a Democrat, in the November 5 presidential election.
Congressional Democrats cite Hunter Biden’s indictment as proof that Joe Biden is not using the justice system for political or personal ends.
Wise said it didn’t matter whether people she knew showed up in court or how they reacted to the evidence, a possible reference to first lady Jill Biden’s presence. “None of that matters. What matters came from the witness stand,” he said.
If convicted, Hunter Biden could face up to 25 years in prison, though first-time offenders don’t get anywhere near the maximum, and it’s unclear whether the judge would give him any time behind bars.
This story originally appeared on Aljazeera.com read the full story
