So if I understand correctly now, Hallie first put the gun into the dumpster outside Janssen’s Market, the place near me where they sell the Joe Biden Sandwich and, according to Politico, the president still regularly stops by. Then she thought better of it and came back to do her own dumpster diving. Unlucky for Hunter. Then she didn’t find it and talked to the store manager. Very unlucky for Hunter. Then the manager did what any sane manager would do – call the police – and it went from there. The store had an actually working surveillance system, which would be bad luck for Hunter if a different dumpster, but I’m guessing is common behind such a high end store.
(3) who is an unlawful user of or addicted to any controlled substance (as defined in section 102 of the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 802));
to ship or transport in interstate or foreign commerce, or possess in or affecting commerce, any firearm or ammunition; or to receive any firearm or ammunition which has been shipped or transported in interstate or foreign commerce.
The term “addict” means any individual who habitually uses any narcotic drug so as to endanger the public morals, health, safety, or welfare, or who is so far addicted to the use of narcotic drugs as to have lost the power of self-control with reference to his addiction.
Hmm, sounds like a lot of wiggle room, there. How did Biden “endanger the public morals”? Did he lose the power of self control? Seems hard to prove. It also seems like it’s perfectly lawful for someone to smoke crack and buy a firearm as long as the person is not endangering the public and still retains self-control of their actions.
But… then we have the term “user.” 21 USC 802 defines “ultimate user” but not “user.” However, I am not sure if “user” even needs to be defined. Perhaps the term “user” is what they’re getting Biden on. But why does the law mention endangering public morals and self control when “user” already covers that?
Defense attorney Abbe Lowell is walking through the federal form Hunter Biden filled out to purchase a firearm with Jason Turner, one of the former employees of the store.
Turner testified about how he processed the form from Hunter Biden and became frustrated with Lowell’s questions.
When asked what he was doing at a particular time when Hunter Biden bought the gun, Turner joked: “I put on my ritual robes and went and sat in a marble room.”
The store’s owner, Ronald Palimere, has now been called by the defense to testify.
Huh, one of the things that I thought I remembered from my high school civics class some 35 years ago was that while leading the witness is forbidden in direct examination, it was allowed in cross. Did I remember wrong?
Thanks for your post, very helpful. Not to belabor this, but I can assure everyone that an addict can easily say “not me” to both parts of this definition, and believe it. @Left_Hand_of_Dorkness’s question is, I think, the key to reasonable doubt. And the lack of specificity in the form makes it tough to prove guilt in any event.
I think the answer we’re looking for is:
Are you a runner? No, I haven’t run today, and don’t plan on running ever again, I have quit running for good.
.
.
.
And this time, I mean it!
Toward the end of Jason Turner’s testimony, he acknowledged that there was something wrong with the ATF form from Hunter Biden’s gun purchase. However, he did not elaborate as to what was wrong with the form after objections from prosecutors.
This is part of the defense’s effort to scrutinize the form and the conduct of the gun store employees.
But the judge has prohibited Hunter Biden’s lawyers from directly revealing to the jury that the employees doctored the form three years later, to make sure it was compliant with federal law.
The original form wasn’t compliant because it relied solely on Hunter Biden’s passport as a form of identifcation. But Turner testified that passports need to be supplemented by another ID because they do not have an address listed.
Lowell is questioning Palimere about this topic as well.
Naomi Biden testified Friday about taking a trip to see her dad, Hunter Biden, while he was at a rehab facility in Los Angeles in the late summer of 2018.
“He just seemed really great,” she testified of seeing Biden and having lunch with him.
“I hadn’t seen my dad in a really long time,” she said, adding later that she was nervous to testify.
Witness acknowledges something was wrong with ATF form from Hunter Biden’s gun purchase, but doesn’t elaborate
From CNN’s Holmes Lybrand, Marshall Cohen and Hannah Rabinowitz at the courthouse
Toward the end of Jason Turner’s testimony, he acknowledged that there was something wrong with the ATF form from Hunter Biden’s gun purchase. However, he did not elaborate as to what was wrong with the form after objections from prosecutors.
This is part of the defense’s effort to scrutinize the form and the conduct of the gun store employees.
But the judge has prohibited Hunter Biden’s lawyers from directly revealing to the jury that the employees doctored the form three years later, to make sure it was compliant with federal law.
The original form wasn’t compliant because it relied solely on Hunter Biden’s passport as a form of identifcation. But Turner testified that passports need to be supplemented by another ID because they do not have an address listed.
Lowell is questioning Palimere about this topic as well.
So what if the gun had cocaine on it. So does over 3/4 of our paper currency.. It was in a fucking dumpster, it could have picked up anything.
As for the laptop, it was in corrupt hands for years now. Nothing on there should be admissable.
So he’s being strung up for checking a form that anyone who is not an addict would check and anyone who is an addict won’t have the capacity to know that he is.
Does anyone know what the logic is for this ruling? Seems to this non-lawyer that once you establish that someone monkeyed with the form for any purpose, that makes all of it suspect. Why would that be off limits?
While I’m sure you could get your average person to nod their head to this statement - it sounds good and all - I’m reasonably sure that the average addict is not incapacitated 100% of the time. To be sure, I have no personal experience but, if they were, then how would they get more of their drugs? They must be able to function well enough to go, get money, coordinate a pickup location with their dealer, drive over/bus over to see the dealer, get back home, etc. The coordination part requires being able to string together words, maintain a phone (probably) and pay the bills on it.
I’d venture to guess that the average addict looks (at the most) like more like someone who has a cold and is a bit groggy, not like a passed out hobo, face-down in a puddle of vomit. And given that there are some addicts working professional jobs and secretly feeding their addiction without anyone knowing about it, even the “appearing a bit groggy” might not be true. The average addict, most of the time, might look and come across like anyone else.
This isn’t to deny that they have an issue. But they almost certainly do have periods of lucidity and, I wouldn’t be surprised if it was the majority period of their days.
Noreika dismissed the defense’s argument, stating that the altered form was “irrelevant and inadmissible” and criticized Biden’s legal team for introducing “conspiratorial” theories and “unsupported rhetoric” about the motivations of the gun store employees.
“Any probative value it arguably has is substantially outweighed by a danger of unfair prejudice, confusion of issues, and misleading the jury,” she wrote. Noreika further emphasized that using the altered form to suggest political bias would be “unduly prejudicial and invites (jury) nullification.”
If I have this right, the form was processed and faxed in its original form. Then a few years later, the store altered the form because the original form didn’t include all of the data it was supposed to. I’m assuming that the complaint is based on the original form that was sent for processing, not the altered form, but the fact that the form needed to be altered throws the store in a poor light.