WILMINGTON, Del. — Hunter Biden and his attorneys spent the weekend debating whether he should take the stand to defend himself in his federal gun trial, which legal experts say would be a dangerous gamble.
This is a major strategy shift for Hunter Biden’s attorneys after a disastrous first day for the defense on Friday, which included testy exchanges with their witnesses.
Hunter Biden would have to be the “world’s best witness” to keep his cool under a brutal cross-examination to prevent further damage, said Rod Phelan, a Dallas-based lawyer and expert litigator.
“He has got a lot of water to carry, and I would be surprised if they put him on,” he told The Washington Times. “I can’t imagine that he could hold up under that kind of cross-examination.”
Cooley Law School professor Jeffrey D. Swartz agreed that Hunter Biden should not testify.
Even if the defense is aiming for nullification from a sympathetic jury, attorneys don’t need to put Hunter Biden on the stand, he said.
“Everything he has to say was read out of his book in his own voice,” Mr. Swartz said. “As far as I can see, he has nothing to add that isn’t in his book.”
The prosecution used the audiobook of Hunter Biden’s 2021 memoir to establish his drug use around the time he bought a handgun.
“I have a feeling there is more than one juror there that has a family member who has had to deal with addiction,” he said. “I wouldn’t put him on.”
Hunter Biden is charged with making two false statements when he claimed not to be an addict or illegal drug user on the federal background check to purchase a Colt Cobra .38 Special revolver at a Wilmington gun shop in October 2018. He is also charged with being a drug addict in unlawful possession of the weapon for 11 days.
Defense attorney Abbe Lowell unexpectedly canceled testimony from his remaining witnesses after a lunch break in the trial Friday. He told the court his team is “down to that last decision,” signaling the weekend ruminating about putting Hunter Biden on the stand.
If Hunter Biden does take the stand, he could testify about his drug addiction, efforts to redeem himself and what happened at the gun store that afternoon. The defense hopes to evoke sympathy from some in the jury in a community where President Biden and his family are well regarded.
The cross-examination, however, would undoubtedly force Hunter Biden to talk about his drug addiction, his romantic relationships — including with his brother’s widow — and his freewheeling playboy lifestyle that has included documented instances of playing with handguns while using drugs.
President Biden’s brother James Biden stood outside the courtroom ready to testify after the lunch break Friday. James Biden has been close to his nephew and supported him through drug rehabilitation.
Upon returning from lunch, Mr. Lowell announced that James Biden would not be testifying and the defense wouldn’t call the other witnesses on its list.
Earlier in the trial, the defense team said it planned to have a forensics expert testify about a key piece of evidence prosecutors presented: cocaine residue discovered in a pouch where Hunter Biden’s gun was reportedly found.
Testimony by the first three defense witnesses did little to help Hunter Biden’s case.
The first defense witness, former gun store employee Jason Turner, repeatedly grew frustrated with Mr. Lowell as he pressed him to explain what happened during the 16 minutes Hunter Biden spent in the store.
At one point, Mr. Turner grumbled that Mr. Lowell did not understand “gun shop life.” He became increasingly sarcastic as his frustration with Mr. Lowell grew.
When asked what he was doing at a particular time, Mr. Turner jokingly responded, “I put on my ritual robes and sat in a marble room.”
Mr. Turner offered little evidence to refute prosecutors’ claims and complained that Hunter Biden’s legal team was “a mess” to deal with because they were not on time.
Gun store owner Ron Palimere was expected to testify about whether Hunter Biden filled out the entire gun form himself, but he struggled to remember the first son’s visit.
The defense’s star witness was Hunter Biden’s daughter Naomi Biden.
She stressed that her father seemed well when she visited him at a rehabilitation facility in August 2018 and in New York a few weeks after the October 2018 gun purchase.
On cross-examination, she acknowledged that her time spent with Hunter Biden was limited, and she couldn’t say with certainty whether he was using drugs.
Prosecutors showed a series of text messages between Naomi Biden and Hunter Biden in which he wanted her to switch cars at 2:45 a.m. with no explanation.
They also read to the jurors a text message between Hunter Biden and his daughter on Oct. 18, six days after he purchased the gun, in which she appeared heartbroken that her father was not responding to text messages.
“I’m really sorry dad I can’t take this,” she wrote. She said she wanted to “hang out with him.” He responded that he was sorry he had been unreachable and it “wasn’t fair” to her.
Prosecutors suggested that Hunter Biden wasn’t available because he was using drugs.
• Alex Swoyer reported from Washington.
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