WILMINGTON, Del. — Hunter Biden decided not to testify Monday in his federal gun trial, moving the case closer to the jury that will decide whether the president’s son is guilty of lying about his drug addiction when he purchased the firearm.

Defense lawyer Abbe Lowell told the court that the defense rests, one week after the trial began. Prosecutors are calling one rebuttal witness before closing arguments will begin.

Defense attorneys rested their case after calling three witnesses over a span of roughly three hours, including Naomi Biden, the daughter of Hunter Biden and the president’s granddaughter. The other two witnesses were employees of the store where Hunter Biden purchased a Colt Revolver in October 2018.

In contrast, prosecutors rested their case after three days and 10 witnesses, including a trio of Hunter Biden’s former romantic partners.

Hunter Biden is accused of lying about his drug use on a gun purchase form and illegally possessing a gun as a drug user. The three felony charges carry a total of 25 years in prison, although if Hunter Biden is convicted, he will likely receive much less.

Before court adjourned Friday afternoon, Mr. Lowell said his team would decide over the weekend whether Hunter Biden would testify.

Putting Hunter Biden on would have been a major gamble. Prosecutors could have grilled him about his addiction, state of mind when he purchased the gun, or even his upcoming trial on tax evasion. He is scheduled to go on trial this fall in California, accused of failing to pay $1.4 million in taxes.

With Hunter Biden choosing not to take the stand, both sides will make closing arguments and the jury will begin its deliberations. Had he taken the stand, he would have been the last witness on his own behalf.

Defense attorneys had said they intended to call James Biden but scuttled the plan at the last minute. President Biden’s brother and the uncle of Hunter Biden, James Biden is close to his nephew and even paid for part of his drug rehab.

Although his legal team opted not to put Hunter Biden on the stand, the jury has already heard much from him. Prosecutors played audio excerpts of him reading his own memoir about his struggles with addiction and have displayed text messages, including some within days of purchasing the gun, in which Hunter Biden talks about buying crack.

• Jeff Mordock can be reached at jmordock@washingtontimes.com.