For months, I have been expressing disbelief that Hunter Biden and his defense team were going to take the gun case to trial. Even on the eve of the trial, I thought that the defense might snap into sanity and plead out the case. The reason was simple. A guilty plea would have materially improved the chances that Hunter could get probation and avoid jail by accepting responsibility. Conversely, a trial in a case with overwhelming evidence of guilt would make it less likely that a judge would depart from the guidelines at sentencing. Nevertheless, Hunter went forward with a nullification strategy and, in so doing, it may have nullified his best chance to reduce the risk of jail time.
After the verdict, I have been stating that jail time is a real possibility in this case despite the fact that this is a first offender. Frankly, I do not see any real need for incarceration in this type of case and many judges would be likely tempted to grant “downward departures” in sentencing or disregard any recommended prison sentence.
It is also important to note that, after the Supreme Court’s ruling in United States v. Booker, sentencing guidelines are discretionary. Judge Maryellen Noreika could sentence him to probation in light of his struggle with his addiction and his status as a first offender (as well as the absence of other aggravating factors).
Yet, while many view this as a relatively minor offense, the sentencing guidelines do not.
Judges regularly sentence people to prison for these offenses. The sentencing guidelines put the recommendation at 15 to 21 months in prison. Moreover, over 90 percent of those convicted are sentenced to prison time.
The chances of probation are increased with guilty pleas, which generally allow for a downward departure of two levels for taking responsibility. That may not seem like a lot but it could prove determinative for a judge on a marginal call over the need for incarceration. By pursuing the nullification strategy, Hunter lost that benefit and now would have to belatedly accept responsibility just before sentencing after putting the court and public through a trial.
If the defense reviewed Judge Noreika’s past cases, they would have seen that she takes a tough approach on gun cases. In May, she sentenced defendant Zhi Dong to a year in jail for lying about his address on a gun form. Notably, that was twice the recommended sentence of the prosecutors.
One point of distinction is that Dong purchased 19 pistols and 10 “lower receivers” rather than the single gun purchased by Biden. It is also notable that the prosecutors were only seeking six months of incarceration in that arguably more serious case.
The defense strategy also makes it more difficult for Special Counsel David Weiss, who has shown remarkable lenience at critical stages of his investigation. It was Weiss who allowed the most serious tax offenses to lapse under a statute of limitations (despite reportedly having an agreement to extend the period). It was Weiss who sought to give Hunter an obscene sweetheart deal that would have avoided any jail time and given him immunity for all crimes.
Many remain skeptical of Weiss and his actions in this case. For that reason, the failure to plead guilty puts Weiss in a box. Given the sentencing guidelines of prison time, any recommendations for probation would be read as more favoritism for the president’s son. Weiss may feel compelled to follow the recommendations to show that Hunter is being treated the same as other defendants.
Given the calculation for the three felonies, the defense had to know that they were increasing the chances of prison time by pursuing a nullification defense. The hope was that Wilmington is Bidentown and no local jury would convict the son of the favorite son of Delaware.
It didn’t work out that way. The team seemed to overplay its hand with defenses that were so implausible as to be insulting for the jury. They suggested that Hunter might not have checked the box or signed the form during a brief window where he was not using drugs. The prosecutors demolished those defenses within two days of the trial.
Accepting responsibility after a trial does not guarantee a downward departure. For example, in U.S. v. Womack, a defendant sought a departure for accepting responsibility before trial as a drug dealer. However, he still went to trial on other issues and the trial judge refused any departure on the basis of his earlier admissions of guilt. It found that he was still minimizing his responsibility for the underlying crimes. That decision was upheld on appeal.
Now, Hunter may have painted both the prosecutors and the court into a corner. In a play for a hung jury, Hunter may have hoisted himself on his own petard. Guilt was never in doubt, but his efforts also removed any question of accepting responsibility before he was facing actual sentencing for his offenses.
Hunter Biden is a first time offender. He’s been clean for while now and the fact that the judge has full discretion it will likely just be probation and a fine.
What this case does is it undermines Trump’s claim that the DOJ is under Biden’s control and that it’s weaponized.
Republicans in Congress are upset that Hunter was found guilty. It seems a guilty verdict is not enough.
Stephen Miller posted on x,
“ DOJ is running election interference for Joe Biden— that’s why DOJ did NOT charge Hunter with being an unregistered foreign agent (FARA) or any crime connected with foreign corruption. Why? Because all the evidence would lead back to JOE.”
He forgot there is not enough evidence to press charges.
And how is you claim to know Hunter Biden has been “clean for sometime now”? Is perhaps eleven months “sometime now”? Evidence exists that tends to contradict that statement. See video from The White House July 4th (2023) celebration.
-John Underwood
It’s been reported he’s been sober for months now. If that holds true it will be a factor on his sentencing.
He has also had a drug problem for more than a decade with multiple arrests that were influenced out of existence
Except that the DOJ did everything it possibly could to avoid any trial at all. As Prof. Turley noted, there was a sweetheart plea deal that certainly would not have been available for a defendant not named Biden, and a curious lack of aggression in pursuing other, more serious charges. And let’s not forget how hard they tried to deny the Laptop From Hell until they couldn’t anymore.
Who’s cocaine was found in the WH?? Joe”s?? Kamala’s?? WHY haven’t the FBI figure it out by now, or is this another instance where the FBI is protecting the Bidens.. particularly Hunter…like they did with the laptop they had for years??
Can we dispense the shallow poorly thought out left wing talking points
NY AGs and DAs announcing they are going to “get trump” and trying over 100 times before managing to “get trump” for the crime of winning in 2016
Is not the same as DOJ slow walking everything Biden
Letting SOLs expire
Failing to charge crimes they had no problems charging against republicans
Because they lead to joe
In manahattan most of the country held there breath against the odds that the jury would do the right thing and acquit or atleast hang over the bogus prosecution of a non crime
In Wilmington the expectation was that just as with the Steele dossier hoax a biased jury would acquit
I would note that though hunters convictions would not normally result in jail
They are still 1000 times more serious than the faux crime trump is alleged to have committed
Drug adicts and guns have a real risk of violence
Pi$$ing off the left by winning an election does not
All of this could be said for Trump as well.
All of what?
-JDU
Sammy,
Exactly.
Abbe Lowell is a Great Lawyer but, he was outside of Washington DC and the DC courts. He was dealing with a honest Judge, who called liked it was, he did not have Judge Kangaroo Merchan, who would of found Hunter not guilty, He dealt with a hardworking and truthful jury. Hunter will be Pardon, not a day in jail and Pres Biden will pardon him after the elections.
There is no problem with the convicted felon serving as president.
But there is a big problem with the father of a convicted felon serving as president.
Depends on the felony
The real jury of voters appears to believe the felony of pi$$ing off the left does not disqualify one from being president
While that of running a Rico bribery racket with your family does
Jon Turley is a good honest person…who believes in the rule of law. That doesn’t work against FASCIST Democrats…who believe in POWER!
So when Hunter took money to arrange meetings with his father…aren’t those BRIBES?
“So when Hunter took money to arrange meetings with his father…aren’t those BRIBES?”
No
Actually yes
And turley has addressed that repeatedly
“ Conversely, a trial in a case with overwhelming evidence of guilt would make it less likely that a judge would depart from the guidelines at sentencing.”
Turley left out that Hunter Biden is also a first time offender. Based on the nonviolent nature of the gun possession and the fact that there’s still an appeal that will likely be filed. It’s highly unlikely he will get jail time.
Republicans, weirdly, are upset that Biden was found guilty. They want him charged with more serious crimes and harsher punishment as vengeance for Trump’s “unfair” treatment.
Hunter chose to defend himself rather than take the “easy” way out like Turley suggests. By going to trial he gets the option to appeal. It may be a better option because he can use the Bruen ruling to his advantage.
Turley left out that Hunter Biden is also a first time offender.
He did?
After the verdict, I have been stating that jail time is a real possibility in this case despite the fact that this is a first offender. Frankly, I do not see any real need for incarceration in this type of case and many judges would be likely tempted to grant “downward departures” in sentencing or disregard any recommended prison sentence.
Of course that might have been better pursued with a reasonable plea deal. But by choosing to go to trial and bring into evidence the abundant proof of criminal activity and the validation of laptop evidence, he’s not your typical “first time” offender. He’s more like a first time prosecuted and convicted” offender.
Try again.
There is no 2nd amendment issue here
Breun requires gun laws to be consistent with early practice
There are plenty of laws restricting firearms with respect to alcohol dating back to the mayflower
Further you have the right to protest
But in many instances you must get a permit
Those permits are must issue
But you still must have one
There is no right to sworn falsification
A 2nd amendment challenge would require that all red flag laws are unconstitutional
SCOTUS has already decided the opposite in far better cases
SCOTUS is not even going to hear this
Are you even slightly familiar with Bruen
Hunter Biden is now a convicted felon.
If he wants to run for public office he’ll have to run as a Republican.
He has been convicted of a real crime
Not one of these Rube Goldberg crimes the left makes up
Trump has a felony conviction for winning the 2016 election and pi$$ing of the left
Felon: A person convicted of a felony
Convicted Felon: A nonsensical term used by spastic idiot non savants
He had the gun for 11 days and never used it and never pointed it at anyone. He should be sentenced like anyone else who had a gun for 11 days, never used it and never pointed it at anyone. If there is anyone else like that – because it looks like those kind of cases are not generally prosecuted.
Maybe 11 days probation for the 11 days he had a gun would seem fair.
And why did he only have the gun for eleven days?
So, no harm no foul, right?
You sound like someone working at our injustice department
-John Underwood
Contra the left lying about drug use on a gun application typically results in a conviction
It does not typically result in jail
But hunters case is unusual
The evidence presented demonstrates the entire Biden clan has had criminal drug problems arrests and has had their criminality ignored for decades
He lnows he will be pardonedp
Going to trial does not necessarily preclude a two level reduction for acceptance of responsibility. Hunter did not testify so if he admits his offense to the PSR writer, he can still get the two level reduction. A criminal defendant has the right to put the government’s to its burden of proof. I don’t mean to defend anything Biden, but that is all Hunter did. My prediction is that Hunter gets probation with drug monitoring/treatment as a condition. As long as he stays clean, he stays out of jail. If Hunter comes up dirty especially before the election, woe is Joe and his chances for re-election.
Anonymous said: “My prediction is that Hunter gets probation with drug monitoring/treatment as a condition. As long as he stays clean, he stays out of jail.”
You appear to be assuming (in your scenario) that any monitoring would be honest. Do you really think there would be a snowball’s chance in Hell that any backsliding would actually be reported? Wanna buy a famous bridge in the NY Metro area?
It was my understanding that SCOTUS long ago stated there can be no penalty for going to trial
We all know that is wink wink nod nod false
But I thought it was the law
A guilty plea might have had a reasonable chance of showing contrition and the 1st steps to accepting the consequences of his crime and subsequent actions. To me, this fantastical defense in spite of a slam dunk pile of evidence, is remarkable for its arrogance, insolence, and overwhelming pride. Not a good look when one goes before a judge for sentencing.
There has been no remorse that I am aware of and I refuse to read books on political figures or there families any more. They simply try to justify their actions. Rarely do you ever hear remorse.
These current actions do not argue for a good outcome in his future life. I would suspect his addictions long predate his accepted time of starting these drugs and his failure to own up to all of this in court also predicts that he will slide back into addiction and probably an early death. Plenty of people with a great deal more of resources than the Biden’s fail to break this type of habit. Too often they delve in to worse addictions, get clean and then go back to their old drugs and start with their previous doses then die. Failing to realize that their tolerance for heavier doses of a drug is gone after a cleanup phase. Would not be surprising.
I see a low profile but no remorse whatsoever.
This is not speaking as a political partisan but simply as a person who has seen too many fail and die.
Your analysis would typically be right
But this is not a normal case
Hunter is not going to jail
The real trial like the trump trial was before the jury of voters
This trial was a mistake because it exposed the massive criminal dysfunction of the Biden family
Again, the wrong lawyer situation. Hunter should have known better but then he never practoiced law except as an excuse to extort money. You don’t take a patent lawyer to a house closing just as you don’t use a white shoe lawyer like Lowell to defend charges relating to gun crimes. Hunter’s lack of remourse will get him jail time. Judges do not like their time wasted by guilty defendants trying to game their way out of trouble. And when you don’t take the stand to show the world how innocent you are (because you’re not and cannot show it), the instruction to the jury that they should not infer anything by your not taking the stand is expecting them to discount the obvious. A good Part 1A criminal lawyer (or vice versa) specializing in dope and drunk cases would have told Hunter to cut a deal and plead out, that he had no other choice, given the evidence against him. He might have gotten more sympathy from the judge than from a jury whose time was wasted listening to how he addicted his sister in law, the widow of his dead brother while playing house with her. You don’t get sleezier than this. When you lie with dogs, you wake up with fleas. My bet’s on two years in the slammer (a Club Fed Resort) with one suspended. It could have been all suspended with a plea but Abbe Lowell had to prove how powerful he and the Biden name could be in Wilmington. It didn’t work, period (as the Big Guy might say). And as soon as the Big Guy loses 40 to 42 states in Novmber, he will commute Hunter’s sentence to time served, which may be a month or two. They talk of an appeal, as losing defense lawyers always do to lessen the blow on their client and their own ego, but you’ve got to have grounds for that and I just don’t see any here. It was a straight-forward open and shut case and the quick verdict showed that.
Hunter Biden boasted that his superpower is the ability to score drugs anywhere. I’m sure he will get drugs in prison, if he is even sentenced at all before the election. And he will probably OD. If not sentenced by Nov 6, he gets a pardon.
A lot of folks on the Left are ranting “how come Hunter was investigated and prosecuted?” when the correct question is how come the Biden family (including the Big Guy) have not considering the mountains of evidence and first hand testimony that lays it out?
Any way you want to define “the fix”….it certainly is well in and secure.
Some questions that I have (having done fraud investigations) is why did the CIA stop the FBI from interviewing Morris (the LA Lawyer who has bankrolled Hunter to the tune of over Six Million Dollars)? Why would the FBI even consider NOT interviewing Morris as part of a Criminal Investigation?
Why is the IRS not doing an annual audit of Hunter Biden, Joe Biden, James Biden, and every one of the people, corporations, LLC’s, and banking accounts owned, controlled, or utilized by those people and companies?
Why can the Biden’s not provide proof of what goods and services all of these companies they have offer to earn those revenues?
The answer is simple….the US DOJ, the CIA, and the IRS under this administration are conspiring to cover all of this up……and the final question is very simple……”WHY?”.
We all know why.
when is the trial for the millions in BRIBES China, Ukraine, etc paid Bidens and the PEOPLE AROUND Biden https://www.politico.com/news/2024/06/08/joe-biden-aides-family-business-dealings-00161476
LOL…that is funny. Hunter isn’t going to jail and EVERYONE knows it!
The Rule of Law is dead in America
If Democrat…little to no jail
if Republican….max jail and absurd fines…ask Trump, Manafort, etc
Can Hunter be tried for upcoming tax evasion charges while in jail???
Hunter…just pay back the taxes
Trump….$1 Billion Dollar Fine…for non-crime!
The Fat Lady hasn’t sang for the Biden’s yet, and it might be she never will (cover-up & forget-it). In four and a half months, Joe Biden will be a Lame Duck Prez and the detailed exploits of Bidenomic-Influence Inc. will be stuffed deep into the abyss-warehouse of the National Archives to disappear.
What Bidenomic-Influence Inc. did do is demonstrate how K-Street Deal Brokers (Hunter) and Government Officials (Joe) use Foreign Intelligence and the Government’s Military Budget and Foreign Aid to feed the Forever War Machine (Defense Industrial Base – The Complex).
Joe Biden leveraged $1 billion in aid to persuade Ukraine to oust its top prosecutor, Viktor Shokin, in March 2016. To escalate the proxy War in Ukraine for The Complex. Hence, here we are today.
Hunter’s absence of a FARA registration etc. while sitting ‘on-the-board’ of a Ukrainian Company (Burisma) is ‘In-Your-Face’ corruption. And Why?
To install Volodymyr Zelenskyy as a (currently a no-longer-an-elected-offical) Puppet, like they did Daniel Ortega of Nicaragua, as they work to surround the Russia with NATO, by bring Ukraine into NATO and push a War as a guise to make Billions of Dollars.
The Complex is: ‘In-Out-Of-Control’ mode, and forcing it’s Faction upon the World.
All the current Litigation against the Biden’s does not address this, and never will. That’s why Kevin Morris is there, to keep a lid on it (‘It’ – the CIA Ops).
That’s the sour Truth, because it’s exactly the kind of Corruptions that needs to face Justice.
-TRA
Case in Point:
Merrick Garland’s fate hangs in balance as House readies contempt vote
House to vote Wednesday on whether to hold Attorney General Garland in contempt
By: Elizabeth Elkind – Fox News ~ June 12, 2024
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/merrick-garlands-fate-hangs-balance-house-readies-contempt-vote
Video:
https://vod.foxnews.com/media/v1/pmp4/static/clear/694940094001/ed622a77-f6c2-4a8f-b650-c9baf5c53065/c42acdbd-dba6-4df8-b733-7b7c5a81fb39/main.mp4
Uniper wins $14 billion arbitration ruling against Gazprom
“… Uniper said the ruling by the arbitration tribunal in Stockholm on June 7, part of a process the company launched in late 2022, enabled it to terminate existing gas supply contracts, which legally still exist even though no gas is flowing. …”
“… The damages award primarily marks a symbolic victory for Germany, as it is unlikely that large sums will flow, legal sources told Reuters last month, something Uniper’s Lewis confirmed. …”
By:Christoph Steitz ~ June 12, 2024
https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/uniper-terminates-russian-gas-supply-contracts-after-arbitration-ruling-2024-06-12/
This is all logical given the the U.S. (Covert Ops) blew up the Nord Stream On 26 September 2022 the Nord Stream 1 and 2 natural gas pipelines, rendering three of the four lines inoperable.
to stop Gasprom from profiting from it. Basicaly the logic was to weaken Russia. Another backfired operation from Langley.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nord_Stream
Hunter is a spoiled brat, therefore in his me-first attitude, he’s counting on dad losing the election or being lame-duck, but either case he gets a pardon
Sentencing will be no earlier than August. The day he has to report will be after the election. Joe will issue a blanket pardon after the election – maybe even for himself, if he loses.
This is all to show the “justice” system works. The president’s son was treated the same as Trump!
I say we revive the tax charges where the statute of limitations lapsed and see where those lead. Hunter is, after all, being treated just like Trump.
I’m not so sure. The mood of the country has sharply turned against the “elite vs. commoner” 2-tiered justice system, which Matt Taibbi has systematically documented. Allowing elites to get away with stuff that puts average people behind bars? Not if it gains the public’s attention. Juries are the fulcrum that puts power in the hands of average folks. Court is where elites are stripped of their special status.
Judges are well educated and worldly, yet not big fans of protecting elites.
Therefore, I expect Hunter to be sentenced to about 3-6 months. Same for Trump. These courts will show both defendants “you don’t hold power over us…it’s the other way around”. Martha Stewart and Lori Laughlin know exactly what I’m talking about.
pbinca said: “Judges are well educated and worldly, yet not big fans of protecting elites.”
You mean like Juan Merchan?
Neither this case nor the trump case have anything to do with norms
This is not a significant case
But the trump case is far less significant
I am shocked that a Wilmington jury convicted
They did not in the sussman case which was more significant and where the evidence was more compelling
While turley is correct that hunter should have plead
The revelations that the entire Biden family is a bunch of over privileged drug addiction scofflaws that have had charges dropped dozens of times in the past is a really bad look
Regardless the big deal is that Wei’s has studiously avoided any charges that even touch the core corruption of the bidens
The elite issue as demonstrated by this case occurs before the courts
Every member of the Biden family has had arrests and charges quietly disappear for decades
Do you think that has changed
The unlawful excercise of power is tyranny
Hunter committed a large number of ordinary run of the mill crimes
Ones that “commoners” understand and are prosecuted for
Trump is convicted of 34 counts of nothing
Not only was nothing proved
Nothing ordinary people understand as illegal was done
You honestly think “commoners”
Give a schiff about paying porn stars for silence about legal activities?
It is left wing elites that believe that”commoners” were obligated to know and care about Daniel’s
You want to try to put paying someone for silence about legal sex into the same catagory as government coercing social media not silence about bribery and abuse of public power ?
You clearly have zero experience with judges
They ARE the elite
They ARE huge fans of protecting the elites
Your obsession and confusion over power identifies you as part of the left and the elite
Trying to bend real world trends to fit your Narative
Power is the ability to use force against others
It is the weapon of the envious elite against everyone else successful or not
“Commoners” tend to believe that on a level playing field they can succeed
Equally importantly the believe in succeeding
Trump has very successfully convinced “commoners” that he is one of them
Just successful
When they see “trump force one” fly over a rally
They see success not elitism
When the see privileged university students
Wasting an expensive education and shutting down colleges they see elitism
When they see hunter with a million dollar drug alcohol and prostitute problem they see elitism
One of many factors necessary for joe to defeat trump in 2020 was joes working class persona but he has spent 4 years shilling for elites and he has been exposed as a fraud
Trump does not hide his success he flaunts it
Joe says he is poor and working class while hiding millions in complex financial schemes and whores public power for money
He has been exposed as a closeted elite
Trump is not in the closet
He is selling whatever success you can make of yourself on a level playing field
Biden is literally selling tilting the playing field
He’s already going to trial on the tax charges. Trial is scheduled to start later this summer in California.
No, not the 2014/2015 tax evasion crimes. The crimes that occurred when Joe was VP. The statute of limitations on those crimes were allowed to expire.
Which means George will be here in late summer
running cover for and making more excuses for Hunter.
Using talking points, whataboutisms, and lies. Getting it wrong all over again.
Not on the ones of consequence
Nor has he gone to trial for fara violations
Or money laundering