Hunter Biden failed to successfully appeal his gun charges on Thursday before the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.
Hunter’s trial remains set for June 3 in Delaware.
The judge scheduled a pretrial conference for May 24 at 2:00 p.m. Hunter is required to attend.
“The defendant in this criminal case appealed three pretrial orders entered on April 12, 2024, denying his motions to dismiss the indictment,” the court wrote in a curiam order. “This appeal is DISMISSED because the defendant has not shown the District Court’s orders are appealable before final judgment.”
The three judges included Schwartz (appointed by Obama) and Chung (appointed by Biden).
“Orders that decline to dismiss charges are generally not collateral orders unless a defendant asserts a right not to be tried,” the order said. “Non-prosecution agreements do not implicate a right not to be tried or any other right that can be collaterally appealed.”
Hunter sought an “interlocutory appeal” for what is called an “immediately appealable collateral order.”
Abbe Lowell, Hunter’s lawyer, said he was disappointed by the ruling. “In reviewing the panel’s decision, we believe the issues involved are too important and further review of our request is appropriate.”
Hunter previously argued that an agreed upon “diversion agreement” by President Joe Biden’s Department of Justice and Hunter should remain in effect.
The agreement afforded Hunter the ability to plead guilty for not paying taxes on more than $1.5 million in income in 2017 and 2018, receiving probation rather than jail time. In addition, special counsel David Weiss devised a separate diversion agreement that gave Hunter immunity from potential future charges, including a provision to essentially wipe a felony gun violation from his record.
Hunter refused to accept a plea deal laid out by prosecutors in July after negotiations fell apart as a result of Judge Maryellen Noreika’s questions about the “diversion agreement.”
Weiss charged Hunter Biden with one count of false statement in the purchase of a firearm, one count of possession of a firearm by a person who is an unlawful user of or addicted to a controlled substance, and one count of false statement related to information required to be kept by a federal firearms licensed dealer.
The case is United States v. Hunter Biden in the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Court No. 24-1703
Wendell Husebo is a political reporter with Breitbart News and a former GOP War Room Analyst. He is the author of Politics of Slave Morality. Follow Wendell on “X” @WendellHusebø or on Truth Social @WendellHusebo.
