Juror in Hunter Biden case speaks out, says president's son shouldn't go to jail

A member of the jury who found Hunter Biden guilty of three felony gun charges said he doesn't believe the president's son belongs in jail for his crimes.

A jury unanimously voted to convict Hunter Biden Tuesday on the three felony charges he faced related to lying about his drug use on a 2018 federal gun-purchase form. According to the charges, Biden would not have been allowed to purchase the gun if he had disclosed his drug use.

Less than two hours after the jury announced its verdict, the unnamed male juror, No. 10, told CNN in an interview that while the group was deliberating, they weren't thinking about the sentencing that would come after. But in considering it now, juror No. 10 said he "really" doesn't think that Hunter Biden should serve time.

The juror pointed to the way the gun was discovered in the first place to explain his opinion, saying that Hunter Biden potentially wouldn't even be in this position had he taken the gun back after it was found in a trash can.

In testimony last week, Hallie Biden said she took the gun out of Hunter Biden's truck in 2018 and discarded it in a Delaware grocery store's dumpster. After it was retrieved, Hunter Biden didn't press charges for the theft and didn't ask for the firearm back.

"When he said he did not want the gun back and that gun sat in evidence for almost five years, I think that may have been what led to his downfall," juror No. 10 said. "If he had taken possession of that gun, I don't know if we would even have a trial."

The jury's verdict is a culmination of years of investigations that prosecutors said were bolstered by Hunter Biden's book, "Beautiful Things: A Memoir," in which the president's son admits to using drugs around the time he bought the gun.

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Now Hunter Biden could face up to 25 years in prison after being found guilty of making a false statement in connection with the acquisition of a firearm, making a false statement with respect to information required to be kept in records, and possession of a firearm by a person who is an unlawful user of or addicted to a controlled substance.

The jury came to the decision after about three hours of deliberation, which began Monday night.

Juror No. 10 said that although the group initially stood 6-6 in terms of whether the president's son was guilty, talking through the case more count by count on Tuesday morning helped them all come to the unanimous decision.

In terms of how the decision was made, the juror said that "no politics came into play." He said the president's family was not discussed and that the one time President Joe Biden's name was brought up in trial, he "put it out of my mind. I never really put the two together."

However, juror No. 10 did say he felt sympathetic for the family's journey through Hunter Biden's addiction, though noting there wasn't much jury discussion about his lifestyle beyond the evidence.

"I can't speak for everyone, but I can speak for myself," he told CNN. "It was very sad that he was being, not that he was being convicted of these crimes, but that his life had turned out the way it did."

The juror particularly said he and some other jurors "felt bad" that Hunter Biden's daughter, Naomi, had to testify, saying it was a "strategy that should not have been done." But he agreed that it didn't make a difference for Hunter Biden to not take the stand, saying he "didn't think it would be a good idea."

And although a female juror told CNN the case "seemed like a waste of taxpayer dollars," juror No. 10 disagreed. He said it came down to the fact that Hunter Biden knowingly purchased the gun while being addicted to drugs, making it a crime in any case.