George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley said Monday that a federal judge may give Hunter Biden a prison sentence if he is convicted on gun charges.
Closing arguments concluded on Monday in the case regarding Biden’s purchase of a .38-caliber revolver, and the jury begun deliberations, CNN reported. Turley said Biden might not escape prison because he took the case to trial.
“I think the odds are that he will not get jailed, but this was an open and shut case and this defendant put this court through this trial,” Turley told Fox News host John Roberts. “And if he is convicted, some judges actually do not look kindly upon that, that if you put everyone through a trial on a case that seems strict liability, you check the box and it was false, some of them may feel you have to do a little time in jail even if it’s a brief stint.”
“So I would not discount that possibility because of what he went through or put the court through by challenging overwhelming evidence of guilt,” Turley continued.
WATCH:
Turley Says Judge May Jail Hunter Biden For ‘Putting Everyone Through A Trial’ With ‘Overwhelming Evidence Of Guilt’ pic.twitter.com/MMxRAlDXGu
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) June 10, 2024
Biden was indicted in September on three felony gun charges of making false statements and for illegally possessing a firearm while being addicted to drugs. He pleaded not guilty during an October arraignment.
Turley noted earlier in the segment that the defense was apparently pursuing a “jury nullification” strategy, and noted the “sizable Biden contingent” that attended the trial. First Lady Dr. Jill Biden has attended the trial since it began on June 3.
“I think if you look at the defense, this is just as clear as you can get for a jury nullification case. The defenses that [defense attorney Abbe] Lowell put up in the opening argument collapsed within 48 hours,” Turley said. “The prosecutors just made mincemeat out of these arguments, and there was a series of them, all of them implausible, that’s not the point.”
“These are, sort of, placeholders and they are hoping that the jury will nullify the evidence,” Turley continued. “They are not asking for the jury to question the evidence, they are asking for them to ignore the evidence.”