Featured image: A procession of vehicles with attorneys and parties from today’s hearing in the Hunter Biden-Lunden Roberts paternity case leaves the Independence County Courthouse. Scroll down for the video.
UPDATE, May 1, 2023, 3:30 p.m.:
A large group of law enforcement, journalists from national outlets, and a few local onlookers gathered at various spots around the Independence County Courthouse in Batesville Monday morning as Hunter Biden made an appearance in his paternity and child support case involving an Independence County woman.
Officers from the Arkansas State Police, the Independence County Sheriff’s Department, and the Batesville Police Department, along with a Secret Service presence, were present as Biden arrived before the 9 a.m. hearing.
Lunden Alexis Roberts filed the claim against Biden in 2019. A 2019 DNA test confirmed Hunter Biden fathered a child with Roberts. Both parties agreed to a settlement in 2020, but last year Hunter Biden requested an adjustment to his child support payments, and the case was reopened. Also, in December 2022, Roberts filed a motion to change her 4-year-old daughter’s name to Biden.
Independence County Circuit Judge Holly Meyer ruled last week that both parties involved must appear in person for other future hearings. (Click here to read more from White River Now.)
At Monday’s hearing, Biden’s attorneys were ordered to provide more details regarding his unsold artwork and stock investments while Roberts’ legal team was requested to provide more about her mortgage, credit report, and other financial information.
Meyer set a May 12 deadline for both parties to submit their responses. A pre-trial hearing has been scheduled for May 23, and depositions are scheduled to be held in Little Rock from June 13 to June 16. The trial is scheduled to begin on July 24.
For more details about today’s hearing, read this piece from the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette (a subscription may be required) or this article from K8 News.
Reporters and law enforcement personnel await the arrival of Hunter Biden at the Independence County Courthouse Monday morning.
UPDATE: An Arkansas State Police trooper leads a procession of vehicles with attorneys and parties from today’s hearing in the Hunter Biden-Lunden Roberts paternity case. The hearing at the Independence County Courthouse in Batesville lasted around two hours.
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EARLIER: Independence County Judge Kevin Jeffery told White River Now’s Gary Bridgman on Wednesday that there will be additional law enforcement as well as an additional bailiff at the county courthouse for next week’s scheduled hearing in the Hunter Biden paternity case.
Last week, Circuit Judge Holly Meyer ruled that all parties involved in the ongoing paternity case filed by an Independence County woman must appear in person for the May 1 contempt hearing at the courthouse — and for other future hearings.
According to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Meyer told attorneys for Biden and the child’s mother, Lunden Alexis Roberts, that she expected both clients at “every hearing I conduct. I will no longer allow us to excuse clients…because it is interfering with the progress of litigation, which is taking way too long to get over simple points.” (Click here to read the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette article. A subscription may be required.)
However, in a motion filed Friday morning with the Independence County Circuit Court, attorneys for the president’s son requested the May 1 hearing be conducted by telephone or video conference. (That motion was denied. – Updated.)
Roberts filed the claim against Biden in 2019. A 2019 DNA test confirmed Hunter Biden fathered the child with Roberts. Both parties agreed to a settlement in 2020, but last year Hunter Biden requested an adjustment to his child support payments, and the case was reopened. Also, in December 2022, Roberts filed a motion to change her 4-year-old daughter’s name to Biden.
A bench trial on Hunter Biden’s petition to reduce his child support amount, and Roberts’ request to change the child’s last name to Biden is scheduled for July 24 and 25 in Independence County.
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