WILMINGTON, Delaware – Hunter BidenThe process is fast.
After just one day of proceedings, Judge Maryellen Noreika swore in a panel of twelve ordinary but eclectic Delawareans, plus four alternate jurors, to determine whether the president’s son is guilty of illegally purchasing a gun while on drugs.
Jury selection in politically sensitive and high-profile cases can take days. But on Monday the entire group was locked down, paving the way for the opening statements to begin on Tuesday.
The panel is a cross-section of the state. It includes jurors with friends or family who have struggled with substance abuse — which is at the heart of the criminal case against Biden. And in a dynamic that might help the president’s tabloid-hardened son, several people said they weren’t fans of the news media.
Jurors will convene in Wilmington’s federal courthouse, named for J. Caleb Boggs — a former senator from Delaware who lost his 1972 reelection bid to a young challenger named Joe Biden.
Potential jurors answered questions about their backgrounds and beliefs from Noreika, Biden’s lead attorney Abbe Lowell, and Justice Department prosecutor Derek Hines, who works under special counsel David Weiss. Lowell and Hines rarely asked more than a few questions.
Asked about their media habits – an important consideration in the high-profile case – the jurors cited a wide range of sources. One said she got her news mainly from her father and X. Another cited YouTube. A third said she makes a point of avoiding news, at least at work.
“They have the news on all day, but I put airpods in my ears so I don’t have to listen to it,” she said. “It’s depressing.”
Most jurors did not reveal their occupation during jury selection.
The jurors had varying opinions about guns. The topic is relevant because Biden is accused of illegally possessing a gun as a drug user and of lying about his drug use on a government form he filled out when he bought the gun. One juror is licensed to carry concealed weapons and owns several. Another, whose home was broken into, also owns a gun. A third said she believes people who use marijuana should not be barred from owning guns — because she sees it as less dangerous than narcotics. Another said drug users should not be allowed to own guns, but former users should have that right.
The defendant’s national fame and local ties to his family complicated jury selection. Some candidates were excused, saying their familiarity with Hunter Biden’s public travails could affect their impartiality. Others said they met people close to the First Family.
“As soon as I read who it was against, I laughed a little,” said one potential juror. “Like, oh great!”
She was promptly excused.
Another candidate said her husband had been close friends Beau BidenHunter’s older brother who died of cancer in 2015.
“Beau was a family friend and a very good man,” she said, visibly emotional. “We miss him.”
She was also excused.
A third contender, who was removed during the peremptory challenge process, donated to a candidate running against Beau Biden for Delaware attorney general.
And another — also removed from the pool by a peremptory challenge — said it was impossible to avoid news about the Biden family in the president’s home state.
“I live in Delaware,” he said. “You can’t wave a cat without hearing something.”
