Hallie Biden ‘panicked’ when she found her gun

Hunter Biden’s ex-girlfriend testified that she “panicked” when she searched his car and found a gun – a moment that set off a chaotic chain of events that sent the president’s son to the courtroom repeatedly. state.

Hallie Biden, who is also the widow of the defendant’s late brother Beau, said she discovered the revolver among a pile of clothes and trash in the glove compartment of Hunter Biden’s truck.

The Delaware court will begin hearing two more witnesses on Friday as prosecutors present their remaining evidence to the jury.

It is unclear whether Mr. Biden himself will testify in the first trial of the son of a sitting US president.

The 54-year-old man was charged with falsely reporting drug use when purchasing guns and ammunition on October 12, 2018. He could face up to 25 years in prison if convicted.

Mr. Biden has pleaded not guilty to three charges related to possessing a gun while allegedly using drugs.

His defense team said he was in recovery at the time, so he was truthful when he said on paperwork that he had not used drugs.

On Thursday, the court heard from Hallie Biden, the central figure in the case, who became romantically involved with the defendant shortly after the 2015 deaths of his brother and her husband.

Mrs. Biden, 50 years old, told the court that she was “embarrassed and ashamed” when she started smoking cocaine after being introduced to the drug by Mr. Biden.

In detailed and emotional testimony, she spoke of the couple’s “volatile” and “volatile” relationship, as well as their struggles with drug use and painful battles painful to recover.

Mrs. Biden claimed that she stopped using drugs in August 2018, but Hunter Biden continued to use it.

Worried after seeing Mr. Biden looking “exhausted” and fearing he might relapse into crack use, Mrs. Biden told the jury that she searched his truck in the early morning of October 23, 2018 – something she often did.

There, among piles of clothes and garbage, she found “remains” of cocaine as well as drug paraphernalia.

“Oh, and obviously the gun,” she added.

Almost immediately, she recalls, panic set in.

“I don’t want him to hurt himself and I don’t want my children to find out and hurt themselves,” the mother of two said.

Mrs. Biden added: “I’m afraid to touch it. I didn’t know it was loaded.”

Terrified, she packed her .38-caliber Colt Cobra revolver into a leather bag, stuffed it into a purple “little gift shopping bag” and drove to a nearby grocery store, where she threw it in the trash.

“Now I realize it was a stupid idea,” she said. “But I was scared.”

Initially, she had no intention of telling Mr. Biden about what she did. But when he woke up that morning, he realized it was gone.

“You took it from me, Hallie,” an angry note was shown to the jury. “You really need to help me think right now, Hallie. This is serious.”

At his urging, she returned to the store to look for the gun but could not. She then filed a police report.

“I’ll take responsibility,” she texted him from the scene. “I don’t want to live like this.”

It was previously discovered that the weapon was discovered by a man who regularly rummaged through grocery store trash to collect recyclable items.

Mrs. Biden also told the court that she did not see Mr. Biden use cocaine in the days before he bought the gun and she disposed of it.

As she testified, Hunter Biden appeared to be looking intently in her direction.

He also looked back at his wife, Melissa Cohen Biden, who has attended every day of the trial so far.

Hallie Biden also told the court that it was only after their relationship began that she learned about Mr. Biden’s drug use.

She found cocaine at her home – where he often stayed – and later saw him using drugs many times.

Crack makes him “agitated or stressed, but at other times he acts normally,” she said.

Prosecutors on Thursday asked about text messages Hunter Biden sent Ms. Biden the day after he bought the gun, saying he was waiting for a dealer named Mookie.

She told the court that meant “he was buying cocaine”.

Two days after buying the gun, he texted Mrs. Biden that he was “sleeping in the car smoking.”

The series of messages also included several emotional messages from Mrs. Biden, in which she begged him to stay sober.

“I’m afraid you’re going to die,” one message read.

The defendant’s lawyers explained the messages by claiming that their client had lied about drug use to avoid meeting Hallie Biden – noting that she had no way of knowing what he was really doing at that time.

During cross-examination, Mrs. Biden affirmed that she did not see him using drugs during this time.

Abbe Lowell, Mr. Biden’s lawyer, asked her if the request to “keep me sober” might also have involved alcohol — and she agreed.

However, the prosecution’s case relied on convincing the jury that he was an addict.

Ms. Biden’s testimony was followed by Millard Greer, the former Delaware State Police lieutenant who recovered the weapon, as well as Edward Banner, an 80-year-old retiree who found the weapon while searching for recyclables in grocery store trash.

When his son appeared in court, President Joe Biden continued to perform his public duties. On Thursday, he gave a speech in France commemorating the 80th anniversary of D-Day.

In an interview with ABC News the same day, Mr. Biden said he would accept the results of his son’s trial and would not pardon him if convicted.

Hunter Biden also faces trial in California in September on charges of not paying $1.4 million in taxes.