随着六男六女陪审团的选定和宣誓就职，辩论在亨特·拜登的枪支审判周二早上检察官和辩护律师发表开庭陈述。
总统的儿子被指控三项重罪指控与他在2018年获得枪支的努力有关，当时他正处于毒瘾的痛苦之中。
特别顾问魏红星的办公室一再称这是一个“简单的案件”，检察官的开场陈述将是他们第一次有机会向陪审员陈述他们的故事。
亨特·拜登的律师阿贝·洛威尔预计将提出他的当事人可能被ATF表格4473上的语言所迷惑，这是他被指控撒谎的文件。据称，他在选择“否”的方框中问购枪者:“你是否非法使用或沉迷于”各种麻醉剂。
洛厄尔在法庭文件中写道，“这里的问题是拜登先生对这个问题的理解，这个问题以现在时态询问他是不是‘使用者’或瘾君子。”
“表格上没有定义‘使用者’或‘瘾君子’这两个词，也没有向他解释，”洛厄尔写道。“像拜登先生这样的人，刚刚完成了11天的康复计划，之后与一个清醒的同伴住在一起，肯定会相信他不是现在时态的使用者或瘾君子。”
在双方发表开场陈述后，检察官预计将传唤美国联邦调查局特工艾丽卡·詹森(Erika Jensen)作为他们的第一个证人，预计他将把亨特·拜登的几条短信和他2021年回忆录《美好的事物》(Beautiful Things)的摘录以及其他证据作为证据。
第一夫人吉尔·拜登出席了周一第一天的庭审，亨特·拜登的妻子梅丽莎·科恩和他的继姐艾什莉·拜登也出席了庭审。总统乔·拜登在他和第一夫人威尔明顿的家附近度过了一天。
在审判开始前，双方预计挑选陪审团可能需要三天时间，但他们只用了一天时间就完成了任务——这意味着诉讼程序远远提前。
法官Maryellen Noreika告诉陪审员，他们可能需要在6月14日之前参加审判，审议可能会持续到6月17日那一周。
Opening statements on tap in Hunter Biden's gun trial
With a jury of six men and six women selected and sworn in, arguments in thegun trial of Hunter Bidenget underway Tuesday morning when prosecutors and defense counsel deliver their opening statements.
The president's son stands accused ofthree felony chargesrelated to his efforts to obtain a firearm in 2018, during a time when he was in the throes of drug addiction.
Special counsel David Weiss' office has repeatedly called it a "simple case," and prosecutors' opening statement will be their first opportunity to lay out their narrative for jurors.
Abbe Lowell, an attorney for Hunter Biden, is expected to advance the argument that his client may have been confused by the language on the ATF Form 4473, the document he stands accused of lying on. The box where he allegedly checked "no" asked the gun buyer: "Are you an unlawful user of, or addicted to" various narcotics.
"The issue here is Mr. Biden's understanding of the question, which asks in the present tense if he 'is' a user or addict," Lowell wrote in court papers.
"The terms 'user' or 'addict' are not defined on the form and were not explained to him," Lowell wrote. "Someone like Mr. Biden who had just completed an 11-day rehabilitation program and lived with a sober companion after that, could surely believe he was not a present tense user or addict."
After the parties deliver opening statements, prosecutors expect to call as their first witness FBI Special Agent Erika Jensen, who is expected to introduce into evidence several of Hunter Biden's text messages and excerpts from his 2021 memoir, "Beautiful Things," as well other evidence.
First lady Jill Biden attended Day 1 of the trial Monday, as did Hunter Biden's wife, Melissa Cohen, and his stepsister, Ashley Biden. PresidentJoe Bidenspent the day nearby at his and the first lady's Wilmington home.
Before the trial began, the parties projected it could take up to three days to select a jury, but they completed the task in only one day -- meaning proceedings are thus far running ahead of schedule.
Judge Maryellen Noreika told jurors they would likely need to be available for the trial through June 14, with the possibility of deliberations stretching into the week of June 17.
