Hunter Biden requests new federal gun trial

FILE PHOTO: Hunter Biden, son of U.S. President Joe Biden, his wife Melissa Cohen Biden, and son Beau walk from Marine One after President Biden arrived at the Delaware Air National Guard Base in New Castle, Delaware, U.S., June 11, 2024. REUTERS/Anna Rose Layden/File Photo

By Jack Queen

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Lawyers for Hunter Biden, the son of U.S. President Joe Biden, said on Monday his trial on federal gun charges went forward prematurely earlier this month and must be done over again.

Hunter Biden became the first child of a sitting president to be convicted of a felony on June 11 after a jury found him guilty on all three counts related to his lying about illegal drug use when he purchased a handgun in 2018.

Biden's lawyers said in a Monday court filing that he is entitled to a new trial because a federal appeals court did not give the trial court a formal green light to proceed after dismissing his appeals.

The president's son had unsuccessfully argued that the law he was charged under was unconstitutionally vague and violated his right to gun ownership under the Second Amendment of the U.S. Consitution.

A jury in Wilmington, Delaware convicted Biden of lying on a background screening form when purchasing a revolver in October 2018 and then illegally possessing the gun for two weeks.

Biden has denied wrongdoing, and his lawyers have said he will appeal the conviction.

(Reporting by Eric Beech and Jack Queen; editing by Rami Ayyub)