Sixteenth Circuit Judge Holly Meyer plans to sign an order declaring that Hunter Biden is the father of an Independence County child, she told attorneys in a letter Friday.
Meyer, who assumed responsibility for the case this week after the recusal of Circuit Judge Don McSpadden, noted that a key question in the suit had already been settled.
"In reviewing the file the Court has determined that the issue of paternity is no longer contested," she wrote.
She instructed the mother's attorney to draft the order "for circulation and approval by all counsel" right away.
The only thing redacted from the public version of the order, Meyer said, will be the baby's full name.
She also left open the possibility of a delay in a courtroom hearing on the case set for Tuesday. She scheduled a telephone hearing for Monday afternoon to discuss Biden's request for a postponement.
Before Monday's conference call, Meyer wants the draft order of paternity to be finished and provided to both sides, she said.
The mother of the child, Lunden Alexis Roberts, filed a paternity suit against the former vice president's son in May. After initially denying the existence of a previous sexual relationship, Hunter Biden eventually took a paternity test.
It "established with scientific certainty" that Biden had fathered the child, Roberts' attorney, Clint Lancaster, told the court in November.
On Nov. 27, Biden's attorneys at the time notified McSpadden that their client "is not contesting paternity."
In an order signed Dec. 3, McSpadden noted that the DNA test results had been "received into evidence without objection."
While the point was no longer disputed, McSpadden had declined, thus far, to determine the baby's biological father, writing that he would defer a "finding of paternity until the Defendant or his counsel appear at the next scheduled hearing."
That hearing had been set for next Tuesday, but McSpadden recused from the case Tuesday, informing the attorneys via email that the case had been removed from the docket.
On Thursday, Meyer told the attorneys that the hearing would take place as scheduled and ordered all parties to attend.
A motion for a continuance, submitted by the defendant later Thursday, stated that Biden hadn't received sufficient notice, resides in California and is "unable to appear" in Batesville on that date.
Biden's attorney, Brent Langdon of Texarkana, Texas, argued that his client was entitled to 20 days' notice under the Arkansas Rules of Civil Procedure.
McSpadden had ordered both sides to provide the court and opposing counsel with five years' worth of personal tax returns by Dec. 19 as well as "any and ALL financial documents and information showing money or monies they received in the past five years."
Lancaster subsequently filed a motion for contempt, alleging that Biden, 49, had failed to comply with the judge's order.
Biden has failed to provide child support for more than a year, Roberts, 28, alleged in court filings.
Biden told the court in a signed Nov. 27 affidavit that he is unemployed and hasn't had a monthly income since May; his father, Joe Biden, entered the race for the Democratic presidential nomination on April 25.
The younger Biden, a Yale-educated attorney who recently moved to California, has an address in a Hollywood Hills neighborhood, court filings show. The home and property is assessed at $2.5 million, according to the Los Angeles County assessor's office.
It's unclear if Biden owns or rents the place.
Biden was spotted in Los Angeles last week driving a late-model, four-door Porsche Panamera, the New York Post's Page Six reported.
Roberts, a resident of Independence County, graduated from Arkansas State University in 2014 with a bachelor's degree in interdisciplinary studies.
She subsequently enrolled in George Washington University's forensic investigation graduate certificate program, taking courses in the summer and fall of 2015, a school spokesman said.
While in Washington, she met Biden, according to her attorney.
Roberts gave birth to a child, referred to in court filings as "Baby Doe," in August 2018.
Questions about Hunter Biden's finances, employment history and previous substance abuse have been raised by Republicans during the impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump.
Republicans have criticized Hunter Biden's business dealings in Ukraine and China, noting that they overlapped with his father's time in office.
Hunter Biden's defenders say there's no evidence of wrongdoing by either Biden, portraying the attacks as baseless and politically motivated.
Metro on 01/04/2020