Hunter Biden's lawyers seek new trial after recent gun conviction

June 24 (UPI) -- Hunter Biden's attorneys are seeking a new trial in federal court, nearly two weeks after President Joe Biden's son was convicted on three felony gun charges.

New court papers were filed Monday in Wilmington, Del. He was convicted on June 17.

In the filing, attorneys say the trial started before a circuit court formally issued a mandate denying the appeal for Biden, 54. This is a technical argument that doesn't dispute the merits of the case, rather cites a procedural claim.

"Here, no mandate was issued during the trial or even now," attorneys for Biden wrote. "Consequently, the conviction must be vacated."

They claim district Judge Maryellen Noreika doesn't have jurisdiction of the case before a higher court gave the formal go-ahead.

One week ago, they filed the same motion before withdrawing it minutes later, days after he was convicted.

In addition, the attorneys also argued in a separate filing Monday that the Supreme Court's decision this week in U.S. vs. Rahimi, which upheld a longstanding federal ban on firearms for people under domestic violence restraining orders, supported their motion for an acquittal or, "at a minimum," a new trial.

They say his Second Amendment right to bear arms ought to remain intact because Biden never acted violently or misused his gun.

"Here, the jury did not find Mr. Biden ever terrorized anyone with a gun in public, or anywhere else, or used it dangerously in any way," attorneys for Biden wrote. "That requires Mr. Biden's acquittal."

A future appeal may center on a matter raised at trial about how long after a drug addict stops using drugs before they can purchase a firearm.

"Where is this line that separates not only what is legal from what is illegal, but where the exercise of a constitutionally protected right becomes a felony? How does a person have fair notice of when he or she is allowed to possess a firearm if they used a prohibited substance a day, a week, a month or, as the Special Counsel argued, years before? This court has not said," they argued.

Earlier this year, a three-judge panel in the Third Circuit Court of Appeals rejected two appeals, finding they couldn't rule until a verdict in the case.

Hunter Biden was convicted of making false statements in connection to buying a firearm, making a false statement with respect to information required to be kept in records and possession of a firearm by an individual who is an unlawful user of a controlled substance.

Biden faces up to 25 years in prison and $750,000 in fines. However, because he does not have a violent past and is a first-time offender, it is possible he could get a lighter sentence that does not involve prison.

A sentencing hearing date hasn't been scheduled.

Biden's other trial in California for his federal tax charges is scheduled to begin in September.