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An appeals court refused to cancel Hunter Biden’s federal gun charges, paving the way for the president’s son’s criminal case to proceed to trial in June.
A three-judge panel of the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected the younger Biden’s appeal on Friday on the ground that it's lacked the jurisdiction to review the matter.
Biden had asked the court to overturn the trial judge’s previous decision that the case should move forward to trial.
The order read in part, "This appeal is dismissed because the defendant has not shown the District Court’s orders are appealable before final judgment.”
In an email statement by Abbe Lowell, Biden’s attorney, Lowell said, his client might seek further review.
According to the statement, “In reviewing the panel’s decision, we believe the issues involved are too important and further review of our request is appropriate."
In a separate scheduling order released, Friday, Judge Maryellen Noreika affirmed June 3 as the start date of the trial and laid out additional pretrial deadlines.
The news comes after Noreika declined to dismiss the gun charges last month, when the president’s son argued he was being wrongfully targeted for political purposes.
Noreika said in her ruling that Hunter Biden’s legal team did not provide concrete evidence to back up their claims that outside influences tainted the special counsel’s decision to pursue the case.
Recall that on September last year, Special counsel David Weiss brought three gun-related charges against the president’s son— two counts for failing to disclose drug use when seeking to buy a weapon and another for unlawful possession of a firearm while addicted to a controlled substance.
Biden however pleaded not guilty to all charges after a deal with the government fell apart.
