The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Thursday rejected Hunter Biden's effort to dismiss his gun case in Delaware.
A three-judge panel of the court did not consider the merits of his appeal, ruling that as a matter of procedure the lower court’s rejection of his various motions to dismiss are not appealable at this time.
“This appeal is dismissed because the defendant has not shown the District Court’s orders are appealable before final judgment,” the order reads.
Lawyers for Biden can seek review from the full bench of the 3rd Circuit or petition the U.S. Supreme Court to consider the case.
Reached for comment, Abbe Lowell, lawyer for Biden, said, “In reviewing the panel’s decision, we believe the issues involved are too important and further review of our request is appropriate.”
U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika, who is overseeing the case, denied another defense motion to dismiss the indictment on Second Amendment grounds in a separate order Thursday.
Biden’s lawyers filed the motion in December, arguing that the case should be dismissed because one of the charges — possession of a firearm by a controlled substance addict — is unconstitutional under the Second Amendment, citing a 2022 Supreme Court decision that held that gun restrictions must be rooted in “history and tradition.”
In denying Biden’s arguments, Noreika on Thursday cited an 8th Circuit Court of Appeals decision that upheld the constitutionality of the statute that was used to charge Biden by comparing it to historical laws keeping firearms out of the hands of people suffering from mental illness.
In a scheduling order Thursday, Noreika also confirmed a trial date of June 3 in the gun case and outlined the remaining pretrial deadlines.
A status conference planned for Friday was also rescheduled for 11 a.m. Tuesday to discuss a deadline last month for parties on both sides to disclose their anticipated expert witnesses.
A pretrial conference is also scheduled at 2 p.m. May 24, which Biden is required to attend.
Noreika last month rejected all five of Biden's motions seeking to dismiss the case.
Biden was indicted in September on charges that he had a gun when he was using narcotics. The counts include allegations that he owned a gun while on he was narcotics and that he submitted a form falsely stating he was not using illegal drugs when he bought the revolver in 2018.
He pleaded not guilty to the gun charges in October.
The federal tax case against Biden is also set to go to trial in June in California. He pleaded not guilty to those charges in January.
Special counsel David Weiss, who President Donald Trump appointed as U.S. attorney for Delaware before Attorney General Merrick Garland elevated him to his current role, brought both cases.
