Jury selection begins on Monday in Hunter Biden’s trial on federal firearms charges, the first child of a sitting president to face a criminal case in U.S. history.

Hunter Biden, the son of President Joe Biden, is accused of lying about illegal drug use on a form to buy a gun in October 2018 and possessing it while addicted to a narcotic. He has pleaded not guilty, though he has acknowledged struggling with an addiction to crack cocaine during that period. His attorneys have denied any wrongdoing.

The case is separate from a federal tax trial in Los Angeles, which was also set to begin in June but a judge recently delayed it to September. In that case, Hunter Biden is accused of failing to pay more than $1 million in taxes from 2016-2019. Those back taxes have since been paid, and he pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Hunter Biden was set to take a plea deal that would have given him probation after pleading guilty to the tax charges and would have avoided prosecution in the firearms charge if he stayed out of trouble, but the agreement fell apart after it faced scrutiny from U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika, an appointee of his father's predecessor, Donald Trump.

Potential jurors will likely be asked whether they believe the law should apply equally to all, including the son of the president

"It's not an insignificant charge," Victoria Nourse, professor of law at Georgetown Law, told Spectrum News of the gun charge. "The question is whether this case would ever have been brought if it were not the president's son."

Nourse says it might be difficult to find an impartial jury.

"The interesting thing about Delaware is, I believe, that the president has probably shaken the hands of almost everyone in Delaware," she said, adding: "It might be harder than normal to get a jury."

Hunter Biden has acknowleged a past addiction to cocaine, but his lawyers say he didn’t break the law because when he purchased the gun he had recently been to rehab, and may have believed he was sober.  

"I’ve made mistakes in my life, and wasted opportunities and privileges I was afforded," he said at a congressional hearing last year. "For that, I’m responsible, for that I’m accountable, and for that, I’m making amends."

Prosecutors will attempt to show that Hunter Biden was generally using drugs at the time he purchased the gun. A judge has already ruled that they do not need to prove that he specifically used drugs on the day he bought the gun.

Hunter Biden's lawyers have filed several unsuccessful motions to dismiss the case, arguing the charges are politically motivated.

"His lawyers have argued that this is selective prosecution in the sense that generally ... this would be an additional charge for someone who had been convicted of or alleged to have used the gun in a crime, for example, but this is about lying on the form," Nourse said.

It’s not clear whether Hunter biden will take the stand. The trial is expected to last at least two weeks. If convicted, he faces up to 25 years in prison.