The U.S. Supreme Court dealt a significant blow to Hunter Biden's hopes of overturning his conviction on gun charges, according to legal analyst Jonathan Turley, as reported by the Daily Caller.
The justices, in an 8-1 ruling, upheld a federal law that restricts individuals convicted of domestic violence from possessing firearms. This ruling came in the case of United States v. Rahimi.
Hunter Biden, who was convicted by a jury on three counts of illegal firearm purchase, saw his hopes of overturning his conviction dashed. His legal team had planned to argue that prohibiting drug users from owning guns violates the Second Amendment. However, the court's decision to uphold the restrictions on the Second Amendment rights was a significant setback for the president's son.
"Hunter Biden just lost a Hail Mary toss," Turley stated. "The court voted 8-1 to uphold the case in allowing second amendment rights to be limited."
Chief Justice John Roberts, in the majority ruling, asserted that the prohibition of individuals posing a credible threat of physical violence from owning a firearm aligns with the nation's long-standing laws. "When a restraining order contains a finding that an individual poses a credible threat to the physical safety of an intimate partner, that individual mayconsistent with the Second Amendmentbe banned from possessing firearms while the order is in effect," Roberts wrote. "Since the founding, our Nations firearm laws have included provisions preventing individuals who threaten physical harm to others from misusing firearms. As applied to the facts of this case, Section 922(g)(8) fits comfortably within this tradition."
In September, Special Counsel David Weiss charged Hunter Biden with three counts related to the purchase of a Colt Cobra revolver in October 2018. The charges allege that Biden knowingly bought the firearm while addicted to drugs and made false statements on his purchase form.
Initially, Biden struck a deal with Weiss in July to plead guilty to two misdemeanor tax charges and enter a diversion agreement for a felony gun charge. However, this agreement fell apart during a hearing overseen by District Court Judge Maryellen Noreika, who expressed concerns about an immunity provision included in the diversion agreement. Consequently, Biden changed his plea to not guilty.
In his memoir, Beautiful Things, Biden admitted to being addicted to drugs at the time of his gun purchase. He also discussed his drug use in text messages, including one from October 14, 2018, where he mentioned sleeping "on a car smoking crack."
Biden's defense team argued that he did not realize he was an addict at the time. His daughter, Naomi Biden, testified that her father seemed the "clearest" he had been since the death of his brother, Beau, three years earlier, particularly during the summer of 2018.
Login