Hunter Biden's legal team filed another motion in Delaware federal court Tuesday, citing a new case in their attempt to vacate the gun conviction against the first son of President Joe Biden.
Biden's attorneys cited a 5th Circuit panel opinion in United States v. Connelly that found criminal law "unconstitutional as applied to a habitual marijuana user where the government failed to show that the defendant was carrying a firearm while actively intoxicated."
Hunter Biden was convicted June 11 of all three felony charges related to the purchase of a revolver in 2018. Prosecutors said he lied on a mandatory gun-purchase form by saying he was not illegally using or addicted to drugs.
In Tuesday's filing, Biden's attorneys countered that "Connelly rejected the defendant's facial challenge because 'history and tradition may support some limits on a presently intoxicated person's right to carry a weapon … but they do not support disarming a sober person based solely on past substance usage.'"
Biden's team tried, unsuccessfully, to vacate the gun conviction in July by arguing the special counsel prosecuting him, David Weiss, was unlawfully appointed.
Pending the ruling on this latest motion, Hunter Biden will be sentenced in the gun case Nov. 13.
Meanwhile, Biden's tax evasion trial begins Thursday with jury selection in Los Angeles federal court. Opening statements are set for Monday.
Mark Swanson ✉
Mark Swanson, a Newsmax writer and editor, has nearly three decades of experience covering news, culture and politics.