The verdict is in, though as I write this we don't yet know what it is.

As Jazz pointed out this morning, the duration of the deliberations is often a sign of how the jury is feeling. Deliberations started yesterday at 3:30 pm so they only had about an hour before the trial wrapped up for the day. The fact that they are back with a verdict today before lunch may indicate that they found this to be an open and shut case. And yet...

It would be extremely disappointing if the jury voted to acquit after this trial because it was pretty one-sided. There were four days of testimony and all but a couple hours of that were the prosecution. The prosecution's strongest witness, Zoe Kestal, testified to seeing Hunter smoke crack every 20 minutes in 2018. She testified that when she saw him in September of 2018, after his brief stint in rehab in August, he was still smoking crack. 

Another ex-girlfriend, Hallie Biden, testified that she searched Biden's vehicle repeatedly in 2018 and found drug paraphernalia including crack pipes.

The defense response to all of this was essentially one witness, Naomi Biden. Hunter's daughter testified that her dad seemed better when he visited her in New York in October. But her testimony fell apart on cross-examination. She had received text messages from him in the middle of the night and seemed confused about what he was doing. She expressed exasperation that he planned to leave without seeing her. He apologized by text, agreeing he had been MIA as a dad. The image of Hunter as a guy who was getting his act together was blown away and the family in the courtroom knew it.

And then there were the text messages in which Hunter said he was buying and smoking crack. The defense claimed Hunter was lying to Hallie Biden in those texts because he didn't want to see her. 

This was an open and shut case. The only variable here is Hunter's last name.

And here it is: Guilty.

The jury followed the evidence and reached the obvious conclusion. Turley suggests the defense's nullification strategy could hurt them at sentencing. Hunter would have been better off admitting guilt and asking the judge for leniency.

As of now, there is no date set for sentencing. CNN reports Hunter is going to release a statement.

Hunter Biden is expected to issue a written statement after the jury found him guilty, according to a source familiar with the matter.

Here he is leaving the courthouse with his wife on one side and Jill Biden on the other.

Jill Biden was late to court this morning and missed the announcement of the verdict. Was that intentional or did they just not expect the verdict so fast?

The prosecution is apparently going to speak outside the courthouse. I'll update below once video is available.

Update: A podium had been wheeled outside the courthouse, presumably for the prosecutors to use when speaking to the media. But the podium has now been wheeled back inside. So maybe prosecutors aren't going to speak today.

Meanwhile, Hunter has released a brief statement along with one from his lawyer Abbe Lowell:

Statement from Hunter Biden & his lead defense attorney, Abbe Lowell pic.twitter.com/AUEYwQQtrh

— John Bresnahan (@bresreports) June 11, 2024

And here's Joe Biden's statement.

Inbox: statement from Joe Biden

“So many families who have had loved ones battle addiction understand the feeling of pride seeing someone you love come out the other side and be so strong and resilient in recovery. As I also said last week, I will accept the outcome of this case… pic.twitter.com/HLPpx9fJye

— Alex Thompson (@AlexThomp) June 11, 2024

So is there going to be an appeal? I'm starting to think there may not be given how little the defense has to work with.

Also, don't forget Hunter has another trial on tax issues coming up plus a potential perjury case.

Inbox: statement from Joe Biden

“So many families who have had loved ones battle addiction understand the feeling of pride seeing someone you love come out the other side and be so strong and resilient in recovery. As I also said last week, I will accept the outcome of this case… pic.twitter.com/HLPpx9fJye

— Alex Thompson (@AlexThomp) June 11, 2024

Update: CNN reports the jury was initially split on Monday afternoon. By this morning there was only one holdout.

The jury was split — six in favor of convicting Hunter Biden on federal gun charges, six who initially wanted to render a not guilty verdict, according to the juror.

When the jury came back Tuesday morning, the next vote was 11-1, with 11 people saying they thought the prosecution proved its case beyond a reasonable doubt, the juror said to CNN’s Hannah Rabinowitz.

They worked on the one holdout who eventually changed his (or her) vote to guilty. Obviously that didn't take very long since they only deliberated a couple hours today.

I'm genuinely amazed that there were six people who initially thought Biden was innocent. Also, how did five of them change their minds overnight?

Update: Here's the audio of the juror describing the deliberations. He says the initial 6-6 split was probably because people wanted to talk about the case a little before judging the man guilty. But by this morning there was less hesitation. 

One juror balked on one question about the 1st charge so they talked and moved on to the 2nd charge. On that one it was unanimous. On the 3rd charge it was also unanimous. When they circled back to the 1st charge they were unanimous.