LOS ANGELES — The federal judge presiding over Hunter Biden's tax case laid out the schedule for the impending criminal trial of the president's son at a court hearing Wednesday.
U.S. District Judge Mark C. Scarsi said in federal court in Los Angeles that jury selection would begin Sept. 5, with opening statements expected to begin Sept. 9.
Prosecutors estimated their case would take six days to present to a jury and said fewer than 30 witnesses would testify. Biden's attorneys said presenting their defense would take about two days.
Biden, who was at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago on Monday for his father's speech, was not in court for Wednesday's hearing, which included some tense exchanges between Biden attorney Mark Geragos and prosecutor Leo Wise.
Biden, 54, was indicted in December on three felony and six misdemeanor counts alleging that he failed to pay his taxes during a period when, he has said, he was in the throes of drug addiction. The indictment says that “rather than pay his taxes, the Defendant spent millions of dollars on an extravagant lifestyle.”
He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
The hearing Wednesday was scheduled to discuss what evidence could be presented to the jury at trial. Geragos was seeking permission to include evidence of traumas that contributed to Biden's addiction problems — the death of his mother and his sister in a car accident when he was 3 years old and in the same car, and the death of his brother, Beau Biden, from cancer in 2015.
“The DOJ wants to paint a picture of a guy without a care in the world, partying at Chateau Marmont, without giving context as to what from his past may have affected him,” Geragos told Scarsi, the judge, saying that would be a form of "character assassination."
Wise argued that the causes of Biden's drug use were irrelevant.
“No matter how many drugs you take, you don’t forget that you owe millions of dollars in taxes,” he said.
Scarsi ultimately sided with the prosecution by prohibiting any mention of the 1972 car accident and limiting testimony about Beau Biden's death.
“The accident doesn’t come in. It’s too far off. I don’t think the reason for the addiction is relevant. The death of the brother can come in, but that as a cause of the addiction cannot come in,” he said.
Scarsi also heard Geragos' bid to limit testimony about his client's salacious lifestyle during the period at issue. The indictment leaned heavily on that information, alleging that “between 2016 and October 15, 2020, the Defendant spent this money on drugs, escorts and girlfriends, luxury hotels and rental properties, exotic cars, clothing, and other items of a personal nature, in short, everything but his taxes.”
Wise said information about what Biden spent the money on was relevant, in part because he is alleged to have tried to write off some payments to prostitutes as business expenses.
“He describes partying in hotels with a cast of strippers,” Wise said. “He chose to pay them, which is fine — it’s America, you can do that. But then he chose to take it as a business deduction."
Scarsi did not rule on the issue and instead encouraged the two sides to work on reaching an agreement about what lifestyle evidence can be introduced.
Scarsi did grant a motion by the defense to bar any mention of Biden's being kicked out of the Navy because of drug use.
He addressed other scheduling issues, as well, saying there would not be any trial days on Mondays, except for opening statements on Sept. 9. Jury proceedings will begin at 9 a.m. local time each day of the trial.
The case is being prosecuted by special counsel David Weiss' office, which also prosecuted Biden on gun-related charges this year. Biden was convicted on all three counts in June and is scheduled to be sentenced Nov. 13.
Katie Wall and Madeline Morrison reported from Los Angeles and Dareh Gregorian from New York.
