Josh Duggar has been in the news quite a bit over the last several months. An investigation had begun with Homeland Security that led to the former 19 Kids and Counting star’s arrest on two counts: one for possession of child pornography and one for receipt of child pornography. Duggar has been out on bail and awaiting trial, which has been expected to commence at the beginning of July. However, he and his legal team have now filed an appeal.
In a major request, Josh Duggar’s legal team is asking that the former reality star’s court date -- which is scheduled for July 6, 2021 -- now be moved rather far into the future. Specifically, his team says they would like to see the date of the trial shifted to February of 2022. The reasoning?
Per the filing (obtained via Fox News), Josh Duggar’s legal team would like to look through the devices the government seized when they were investigating the car dealership that Josh Duggar had worked at and allegedly looked at child pornography on while at said workplace. Duggar’s lawyers write that the case is “complex,” involves the “so-called ‘dark web’,” and will require a “time-consuming” amount of work to peruse.
This is a complex case arising out of a several-year federal investigation concerning allegations involving both the so-called ‘dark web’ and peer-to-peer BitTorrent file-sharing networks. Based on the discovery provided to date, the Government's allegations largely center on computer forensic evidence and anticipated expert opinion testimony. The defense has retained an independent computer forensic expert who must conduct a computer forensic examination of each of the devices at issue – a time consuming process that requires review at a government facility for the one device the Government alleges contained child pornography.
Another point of contention seems to be that Josh Duggar’s legal team noticed in the official paperwork related to the arrest that “ two other Arkansas state law enforcement agencies” were listed as being parties that had been helping with the investigation prior to the arrest. Duggar’s legal team says that information was not knowledge that had been widely disclosed at the time of the arrest and the legal team would like the time to look into the new information before proceeding.
Duggar has pleaded not guilty to the charges following his arrest on April 29th. A hearing that set his bail criteria has already been undergone. During that initial hearing, a special agent on the Josh Duggar case called the images found on a computer at his workplace among “the worst” he’s ever seen.
Should the filing be successful, it would be months before Josh Duggar made it to the trial portion of the case. He currently has been released to a third party after the request to stay at parents Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar’s property was denied, though he is able to see his wife, Anna, and their six children. Anna is also pregnant, with a seventh child on the way. The gender reveal had been made on social media just prior to Duggar's arrest.
Neighbors near the property have reportedly called the cops at least once due to the interest surrounding Josh Duggar’s stay there. Another neighbor commented on how far apart the properties are. However, if the trial does not end up commencing until 2022, the star’s stay will likely be much longer on the Rebers’ property. The Rebers are family friends of Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar.
