Appeals court dismisses Hunter Biden's effort to get gun case tossed

The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Thursday rejected Hunter Biden's effort to get his gun case in Delaware dismissed.

A three-judge panel of the court did not consider the merits of his appeal, ruling that as a matter of procedure the lower court’s rejection of his various motions to dismiss the case are not appealable at this time.

“This appeal is dismissed because the defendant has not shown the District Court’s orders are appealable before final judgment,” the order reads.

Lawyers for Hunter Biden can seek review from the full bench of the 3rd Circuit or petition the U.S. Supreme Court to consider the case.

Reached for comment, Abbe Lowell, lawyer for Hunter Biden, said, “In reviewing the panel’s decision, we believe the issues involved are too important and further review of our request is appropriate.”

In a scheduling order Thursday, Judge Maryellen Noreika, who is overseeing the case, confirmed a trial date of June 3 in the federal gun case against the president’s son and outlined the remaining pre-trial deadlines.

A status conference is scheduled Friday at 4:30 p.m. to discuss a deadline last month for parties on both sides to disclose their anticipated expert witnesses.

A pre-trial conference is also scheduled May 24 at 2 p.m. that requires Hunter Biden to be in attendance.

Noreika last month rejected all five of Hunter Biden's motions seeking to have the case dismissed.

Hunter Biden was indicted in September on charges that he had a gun while using narcotics. The counts include allegations that he owned a gun while on narcotics and submitted a form falsely stating he wasn't using illegal drugs when he purchased the revolver in 2018.

The president’s son pleaded not guilty to the gun charges in October.

The scheduled June trial for the gun charges comes the same month that the federal tax case against Hunter Biden is set to go on trial in California. He pleaded not guilty to those charges in January.

Special counsel David Weiss, who was appointed by Trump as U.S. Attorney for Delaware before being elevated into his current role by Attorney General Merrick Garland, brought the gun and tax cases against the president's son.