CNN
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Jurors in Hunter Biden’s gun case could not agree on whether to convict the president’s son during their first vote Monday night, one juror told CNN in an interview, adding that “there was no politics involved” in their deliberations before reaching the guilty verdict.
Juror No. 10 also said it was a mistake to have Hunter’s daughter Naomi take the stand and that the jury was sorry she was called to the stand.
Hunter Biden was found guilty on Tuesday of all three federal charges of felon in possession of a firearm, with the jury concluding that he violated a law banning drug addicts from possessing firearms. A juror who spoke to CNN said that when the jury returned early in the day, only one dissenter had voted. Over the next few hours, the jury debated elements of each crime, with the final dissenter agreeing that Biden should be found guilty.
The male jurors did not say whether they were supporters of President Joe Biden, but said they felt sympathy for Hunter Biden’s family’s struggle with addiction.
The president’s son is “no different from anyone else,” Juror No. 10 told CNN, but said the jury based its guilty verdict on the fact that Biden did not disclose that he was a drug addict when he purchased the gun.
“We all knew he was a drug addict,” he said. “How could he not know in his heart that he was an addict?”
Juror No. 10 said the case boils down to whether Biden was addicted to crack when he bought the gun. “All 12 jurors agree that Biden bought the gun when he was an addict or was addicted to drugs,” he said.
But the jury also said Biden should not go to prison, pointing to the fact that Hallie Biden did not want her guns returned. (Beau Biden’s widow, who later dated his brother) took it off the truck and threw it in a trash can near a grocery store.
“I think what contributed to his downfall was that he said he didn’t want the gun back and the gun sat as evidence for almost five years. If he had the gun, I don’t know if there would have even been a trial,” the juror said.
Another juror told CNN he believes Biden “deserves rehabilitation more than prison time or fines.”
Juror No. 10 said it made no difference to him that Biden had not taken the stand to testify in his own defense, and agreed that Biden “would have preferred not to testify.”
Ultimately, the one-sided guilty verdict was “in line with the rules,” Juror No. 10 said.
Other jurors who spoke to CNN after returning the guilty verdict said they had no choice but to convict Biden, but questioned whether criminal charges should have been brought against the president’s son.
One female juror told CNN that the case “seems like a waste of taxpayer money,” but Juror No. 10 disagreed.
Another male juror said the trial was “a little frustrating because it felt like we weren’t getting the full story.”
All three jurors said Biden’s defense strategy was ultimately unconvincing, even as attorney Abe Lowell questioned whether Biden knowingly lied in the ATF documents.
Jurors who spoke to CNN said politics never played a role in their decision-making process on whether to convict the president’s son.
The guilty verdict was “not politically motivated,” Juror No. 10 told CNN. “There’s no politics involved.”
The second juror said he had worried jurors would “attack each other violently” because of Biden’s father being president and the political climate, but said he “didn’t feel any pressure” once deliberations began.
A third juror added: “I just didn’t feel any pressure.”
In a post-guilty statement Tuesday, the president reiterated his acceptance of the jury’s verdict but also voiced his support for his son.
“As I said last week, I’m president, but I’m also a father. Jill and I love our son and are so proud of the man he has become. Many families who have had a loved one battle addiction understand the sense of pride they feel seeing their loved one overcome challenges, recover and become so strong and resilient,” Biden said.
Juror No. 10 said the president “was only brought up once in the trial, so it didn’t really matter to me. Then it kind of hit home. Oh, wow. The person on trial is the son of a sitting president. So, yes, it was a little painful, but I put it out of my mind. Then it came up again, so I put it out of my mind.”
While the president was not in the courtroom, First Lady Jill Biden attended every trial as a show of support for her son, and every juror CNN spoke to acknowledged the weight of her presence in the courtroom.
“When I saw Mrs. Biden, I really felt sorry for the family,” said Juror No. 10. He wouldn’t say how he planned to vote in the 2024 election, but added, “You can’t help but take some of these things into consideration.”
Jurors said they appreciated the emotional testimony in the trial, in which members of Biden’s family took to the stand and provided some of the most personal details of his struggles with drugs and alcohol.
“I had no idea Hunter’s addiction was so severe,” Juror No. 10 said, adding that Biden’s daughter’s testimony was “heartbreaking.”
Naomi Biden testified about visiting her father in the summer of 2018 while he was in rehab in Los Angeles after not seeing him for a while. She was subjected to tough cross-examination by prosecutors and was seen wiping away tears as she left the courtroom.
“I think it’s unfortunate that they brought Naomi to trial as a witness,” Juror No. 10 told CNN. “I think it was a strategy that probably shouldn’t have been used. A daughter should not have to testify against her father.”
The second juror said he felt “very sad” for Naomi Biden and found her testimony difficult to listen to.
Juror No. 10 said the jury was not focused on Hunter Biden’s “lifestyle,” but rather on the evidence presented at trial.
“It was very sad, Harry gave evidence and for me it was very sad because I didn’t know Harry had been addicted to crack as well. I felt really bad,” he added.
This story has been updated with additional information.
