Hunter Biden’s legal team may not have been successful in persuading U.S. District Court Judge Mark Scarsi to dismiss the federal tax charges against him, but they did manage to get his trial in that matter postponed for a couple of months.
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Judge Denies Hunter Biden’s Motions to Dismiss Tax Charges
On Wednesday, Scarsi ruled that the California case could be pushed back from its original June 20 setting to September 5.
United States District Court for the Central District of California Judge Mark Scarsi heard arguments during a pre-trial hearing Wednesday, after Hunter Biden’s attorneys requested to delay his trial on tax charges stemming from Special Counsel David Weiss’ investigation.
Hunter Biden pleaded not guilty to federal tax charges in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California — specifically, three felonies and six misdemeanors concerning $1.4 million in owed taxes that have since been paid.
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Federal prosecutors asked Scarsi earlier this month to deny Biden’s request to delay his trial, after the first son’s attorneys previously agreed to the June 20 date last year.
“No defendant would be afforded a continuance because he wrongly chose to lodge a jurisdictionless appeal, and this defendant should be treated no differently,” the motion states. “Defense counsel offers a handful of other reasons why he wants a trial delay of 77 days, but none of them warrant a continuance. The motion should be denied.”
During a pre-trial conference Wednesday, Biden’s lawyers argued that the June 20 setting was too close on the heels of his June 3 trial in Delaware on federal gun charges. In granting the brief reprieve, Scarsi cautioned that there would be no more continuances absent intervention by the appellate courts.
The judge warned that he wouldn’t push the trial date back any further unless an appeals court intervenes. If the September trial date remains firm, Hunter Biden would be on trial in the final weeks of his father’s presidential reelection bid.
Hunter Biden’s attorney, Abbe D. Lowell, said that the Delaware trial in early June would make it impossible to prepare for the Los Angeles tax case just a couple weeks later. He also said that it’s been hard to find a tax expert willing to testify during the trial because of the public scrutiny that comes with being involved in such a high-profile case.
While the delay may be a bit disappointing for those anxious to see Hunter Biden face the music, the June 20 start date would indeed have been cutting it awfully close with the Delaware gun case, so the court’s decision here isn’t outlandish — and, as noted, it’s a fairly brief delay (77 days).
As it stands now, it still appears Hunter Biden will stand trial for a second time before former President Donald Trump does. So…there’s that.
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