RHB - Order On Govt Motion in Limine - 6-2-24

Case 1:23-cr-00061-MN Document 207 Filed 06/02/24 Page 1 of 3 PageID #: 3222
IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

FOR THE DISTRICT OF DELAWARE
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, )

)
v. ) C.A. No. 23-61 (MN)
)
ROBERT HUNTER BIDEN, )
)
Defendant. )
MEMORANDUM ORDER
At Wilmington this 2nd day of June 2024:
Defendant Robert Hunter Biden is charged with possession of a firearm by a prohibited
person in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 922(g)(3) and 924(a)(2) and two false-statement counts under
§§ 922(a)(6) and 924(a)(1)(A). (D.I. 40). Presently before the Court is the government’s motion
in limine no. 9, seeking to admit a certified Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives
(“ATF”) Form 4473 (“Certified Form 4473”) and to exclude an annotated version of this form
from 2021 (“2021 Form”) as irrelevant and inadmissible. (D.I. 157). During the Pretrial
Conference, I granted as unopposed the motion as to the admission of the Certified Form. I
reserved on the exclusion of the 2021 Form. Defendant opposes the motion to exclude the 2021
Form, originally filing a response (D.I. 177) and then submitting a supplemental response. 1 In his
supplemental response, Defendant suggested he intends to seek the admission of additional
exhibits arguably related to the 2021 Form. The government filed a reply addressing the original
opposition and the additional exhibits. (D.I. 202). Having reviewed the parties’ submissions and
heard argument at the Pretrial Conference, I will GRANT the motion as follows:
1
Defendant has submitted his supplemental response under seal to the extent it discloses
matters that are not public, including e.g., grand jury transcripts. A redacted public version
will be filed in due course.
1
1. As noted above, the motion to admit Certified Form 4473 is unopposed, and the
Court has made a preliminary determination, pursuant to Fed. R. Evid. 104(b), that the records
certified by StarQuest Shooters & Survival Supply, attached to the government’s motion as Exhibit
1 and including Certified Form 4473, are admissible under Rule 803(6) (records exception to
hearsay) and 902(11) (self-authentication of domestic records of a regularly conducted activity)
and 902(13) (self-authentication of records from electronic system).
2. The Court finds that the 2021 Form is irrelevant and inadmissible under Federal
Rule of Evidence 401 and excludes it at trial. 2 Moreover, even if the 2021 Form were admissible,
the Court finds that it is excluded under Federal Rule of Evidence 403 because any probative value
it arguably has is substantially outweighed by a danger of unfair prejudice, confusion of issues,
and misleading the jury.
3. Questioning, testimony, evidence or argument, including but not limited to, the
additional exhibits designated by the Defendant as tabs “6-6C” to his supplemental submission
regarding any witnesses’ political bias are excluded from introduction or admission at trial because
2
The government has stated that it intends to call Gordon Cleveland, a gun shop employee,
who will testify that he watched Defendant fill out Section A of the Certified Form and that
Defendant checked “no” to question 11e about being an unlawful user or addict. Both the
Certified Form and the 2021 Form have the same check mark (“X”) responding “no” to
question 11e. The addition of “DE VEHICLE REGISTRATION” to a different section of
the 2021 Form after the Defendant filled it out does not have “any tendency to make” those
two facts, which are “fact[s] of consequence in determining” the charges – that he filled it
out and that he said he wasn’t an unlawful user of or addicted to a controlled substance –
more or less probable. F.R.E. 401. The Court also agrees with the government that
Defendant’s conspiratorial theory about “doctored” forms and currying favor with the
government is unsupported rhetoric, which would be prejudicial and confusing to the jury.
2
such questioning, testimony, evidence or argument is not relevant, is unduly prejudicial and invites
nullification. 3
________________________________
The Honorable Maryellen Noreika
United States District Judge
3
The Court agrees with the government that the political views expressed in 2020 by the
gun shop owner, Palimere (who did not witness Defendant fill out Section A of the
Certified Form or check the box for question 11e in 2018), are sideshows aimed at tainting
or confusing the jury.

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Case 1:23-cr-00061-MN Document 207 Filed 06/02/24 Page 1 of 3 PageID #: 3222

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, )

At Wilmington this 2nd day of June 2024:

Defendant Robert Hunter Biden is charged with possession of a firearm by a prohibited

supplemental response, Defendant suggested he intends to seek the admission of additional

hearsay) and 902(11) (self-authentication of domestic records of a regularly conducted activity)

and 902(13) (self-authentication of records from electronic system).

it arguably has is substantially outweighed by a danger of unfair prejudice, confusion of issues,

and misleading the jury.

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