A juror in Hunter Biden’s federal gun trial said Tuesday the jury initially deadlocked on the decision before it eventually returned a unanimous guilty verdict.
“Yesterday … we voted and it was six to six,” Juror 10 said in an interview with CNN.
Deadlocks are not uncommon in initial jury votes, which jurors sometimes do to take the temperature of the room and to see whether they can quickly come to a unanimous decision.
“I don't believe that any of them were trying to change their minds, or we weren't trying to change anybody's mind,” the juror said. “It's just the fact that I think they said ‘no’ because they wanted more information.”
The jury ended up convicting President Joe Biden’s son on all three charges after three hours of deliberations over two days. Hunter is the first child of a sitting U.S. president to be convicted of a crime. He faces a maximum of 25 years in prison, but a much lower sentence is expected since he is a first-time offender.
Prosecutors argued Biden lied when he filled out a form in 2018 when he obtained a gun, falsely claiming he was not addicted to drugs. Biden claimed he didn’t believe he was an addict at the time. The trial happened after a judge rejected a deal with prosecutors that would have allowed Biden to evade prosecution as long as he avoided wrongdoing for two years.
Another wrinkle remains in the saga: The law that prosecutors used to charge Biden is currently being challenged under 2nd Amendment grounds. If it is overturned, Biden’s conviction would be voided. Biden’s attorney Abbe Lowell said the defense would “pursue all the legal challenges available.”
The president made several public indications of support for his son, but last week he said he would respect the trial’s outcome and would not issue any pardon. The Justice Department last year appointed a special counsel, David Weiss, to oversee the investigations.
Hunter is set to go on trial on separate federal tax charges in September.
