Jury selection begins in Hunter Biden's federal tax trial in Los Angeles months after his gun conviction

LOS ANGELES — More than a year after a deal between prosecutors and Hunter Biden fell through, jury selection in the federal tax trial of President Joe Biden's son is scheduled to begin this morning in a federal court in Los Angeles.

U.S. District Judge Mark Scarsi plans to seat 12 jurors and four alternates for a trial that is likely to spotlight Hunter Biden's foreign business dealings, his battle with addiction and his lavish spending.

Prosecutors allege Hunter Biden participated in a four-year conspiracy to evade $1.4 million in taxes and spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on exotic cars, clothing, escorts, drugs and luxury hotels. He has pleaded not guilty to nine counts, including six misdemeanor counts of failure to pay, one count of tax evasion and two counts of filing false tax returns.

RELATED: Judge rejects Hunter Biden's latest attempt to dismiss tax charges

All back taxes and penalties were ultimately paid in full by a third party identified by ABC News as Kevin Morris, a confidant of Hunter Biden.

The trial comes three months after a Delaware jury convicted Hunter Biden on three counts related to purchasing a firearm in 2018 while allegedly addicted to drugs. His sentencing in that case is scheduled for November 13.

If convicted in Los Angeles, Hunter Biden faces a maximum sentence of up to 17 years in prison.

After two days of jury selection this week, opening arguments in the trial are scheduled to begin Monday. Prosecutors expect to spend six days presenting their case, and Hunter Biden's team has said it will spend two days on his defense.

Here's what you should know about the procedure.

How is the jury selected?

Judge Scarsi plans to use a similar process for jury selection in the Los Angeles trial to that used in the Delaware trial of Hunter Biden – where jury selection took one day. One hundred and twenty potential jurors from Los Angeles and six neighboring counties are expected to be called for jury selection on Thursday.

At the heart of the jury selection process is a detailed questionnaire with 50 questions on topics such as how potential jurors deal with the police and their experiences with tax returns.

RELATED: Hunter Biden requests dismissal of proceedings against him, citing Trump ruling

Four of the questions relate directly to Hunter Biden's unique position as a defendant whose father is President of the United States. Among other things, they ask whether potential jurors' thoughts on the upcoming presidential election would influence their decision-making and whether they believe law enforcement decisions are made on a political basis.

“Do you believe that Robert Hunter Biden will be prosecuted in this case or not in other cases because his father is President of the United States and was a presidential candidate until recently?” is one of the questions.

Five questions also touch on the topic of addiction, such as whether potential jurors have family members who suffer from drug problems or whether they have experience with addiction treatment and counseling.

“Do you believe that someone who is addicted to drugs or alcohol should not be prosecuted?” is another question.

What does the prosecution claim?

In their 56-page indictment, prosecutors alleged that Hunter Biden intentionally avoided paying taxes by undermining his company's payroll system, failed to pay his taxes on time despite having the money to do so, and made false statements on his 2018 tax returns.

“[T]The defendant spent this money on drugs, escorts and girlfriends, luxury hotels and rental properties, exotic cars, clothing and other items of a personal nature – in short, everything except his taxes,” the indictment states.

Prosecutors also pointed out that Hunter Biden received millions of dollars from foreign companies in Ukraine, China and Romania in exchange for “almost no work.”

Although Hunter Biden eventually paid back all of his back taxes and penalties with the help of third parties, Judge Scarsi prevented the defense from presenting this information to the jury.

“The evidence of late payment is irrelevant to Mr. Biden's state of mind at the time he is alleged to have committed the crimes he is charged with,” Scarsi wrote in an order last week.

Why is it going to court?

Last June, Hunter Biden agreed to plead guilty to two misdemeanors and admit that he failed to pay taxes on his income from 2017 and 2018. The agreement also allowed him to reach an out-of-court settlement to avoid criminal charges related to his 2018 gun purchase.

If the deal had worked out, Hunter Biden would likely have been sentenced to probation for the tax offenses and the gun charges would have been dropped if he had complied with the terms of his agreement.

However, the deal fell apart during a heated hearing before U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika, who questioned the structure of the deal.

In September, special counsel David Weiss in Delaware unsealed an indictment accusing Hunter Biden of lying on a federal form when purchasing a firearm in 2018.

In December, federal indictment for tax crimes followed in Los Angeles.