Prosecutors told the judge they opposed Hunter Biden’s proposed Alford plea, which would have allowed him to plead guilty to the charges while maintaining his innocence of the underlying conduct.
Hunter Biden’s lawyer had previously said the president’s son would plead guilty, moments before prospective jurors are expected to be summoned to a Los Angeles courtroom where a federal trial on tax charges is scheduled to begin.
The term “Alford plea” was not uttered in court, but defense attorney Abbe Lowell described it as an Alford plea when prosecutors said the special counsel would not accept a plea where Hunter did not accept guilt. According to sources, the defense stated Hunter Biden’s proposed terms behind closed doors while the court was in recess.
“I want to make it clear: The United States opposes the Alford plea,” prosecutor Leo Wise said Thursday.
Wise accused Hunter Biden of getting special treatment with a false request.
“Hunter Biden is wrong,” Wise said. “We were as shocked as everyone else in the courtroom when Mr. Lowell made his point.”
The proceedings quickly devolved into a technical argument over whether Hunter Biden proposed an Alford plea, or if he proposed an open plea, which requires an admission of guilt.
“To put a fine point on – is the accused guarding his innocence? I think that is a critical question before we can proceed,” Wise said. “If we know, we can better express our position.”
District Judge Mark Scarsi suggested he would grant Hunter Biden’s request that the government have enough evidence to convict him beyond a reasonable doubt; However, Scarsi does not believe he can be forced to accept an Alford plea.
Wise asked for another day to consider the proposed request.
Alford pleas are rare and are usually requested when defendants admit they cannot win a trial but maintain their innocence. If accepted, Hunter Biden would have to say he was guilty of the charges, but the judge did not require him to specify why he was guilty.
The president’s son arrived in court Thursday morning shortly before jury selection began. As Judge Scarsi entered court, Hunter Biden’s attorney announced his intention to change his plea and said there was no need to move forward with jury selection.
This courtroom sketch shows Hunter Biden entering a federal courtroom to select a jury for a trial on felony tax charges, Sept. 5, 2024, in Los Angeles.
William T. Robles via AP
Prosecutors appeared surprised by the sudden change, telling Scarsi they would accept nothing but a guilty plea.
“This is the first we’ve heard of this,” prosecutor Wise said.
Prosecutors say Hunter Biden engaged in a four-year scheme to avoid paying $1.4 million in taxes while spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on cars, clothes, escorts, drugs and luxury hotels. He originally pleaded not guilty to a nine-count indictment that included six misdemeanor charges of Failure to Pay, plus a felony tax evasion charge and two felony charges of filing a false return.
All back taxes and fines were ultimately paid in full by a third party, identified by ABC News as Hunter Biden’s Kevin Morris trust.
Thursday’s court appearance comes three months after Hunter Biden was convicted by a Delaware jury of three felony charges related to the purchase of a firearm in 2018 while allegedly addicted to drugs. Sentencing in the case is scheduled for November 13.
What did the prosecutors charge?
In a 56-page indictment, prosecutors said that Hunter Biden deliberately avoided paying taxes by destroying his own company’s payroll system, that he failed to pay taxes on time even though he had the money to do so, and that he included false information in his 2018 tax return.
Hunter Biden arrives in federal court for jury selection for his trial on felony tax charges, September 5, 2024, in Los Angeles.
Jae C. Hong/AP
“(T)he defendant spent this money on drugs, escorts and girlfriends, luxury hotels and rental properties, exotic cars, clothes, and other things of a personal nature, in short, everything but taxes,” the indictment said.
Prosecutors also highlighted the millions of dollars Hunter Biden received from overseas businesses in Ukraine, China, and Romania in exchange for “almost no work.”
Although Hunter Biden eventually repaid all taxes and fines with the help of a third party, Judge Scarsi barred defense attorneys from introducing that information to the jury.
“The evidence of late payment here has nothing to do with Mr. Biden’s condition at the time he was charged with the alleged crimes,” Scarsi wrote in an order last week.
Last June, Hunter Biden agreed to plead guilty to two misdemeanor offenses, admitting that he failed to pay taxes on the income he received in 2017 and 2018. buying a firearm.
If the deal goes through, Hunter Biden will likely face trial for tax evasion and the gun charge is dropped if he complies with the terms of the diversion agreement.
However, the plea deal collapsed during a contentious hearing before US District Judge Maryellen Noreika, who took issue with the structure of the deal.
In September, a special counsel unsealed an indictment in Delaware accusing Hunter Biden of falsifying federal forms when purchasing firearms in 2018.
A federal indictment in Los Angeles for tax crimes was filed in December.
—ABC News’ Olivia Rubin contributed to this report.
