Back in June, Josh Duggar was finally moved from the Washington County Detention Center into the Federal prison system at Seagoville. In the time since, his legal team has begun moving forward with the appeals process, having maintained their clients’ innocence through the entire case and even following Duggar’s guilty verdict. The appeals process is currently dealing with a third delay, but that delay is actually coming from his own legal team.
It seems there has been some trouble with members of the former 19 Kids and Counting star’s legal team actually gaining access to their client. The team has been trying to put together an opening brief for an appeal in the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit; however, it’s been difficult for Justin Gelfand and other members of the legal team to meet with Duggar in prison.
In fact, as part of the appeal, Gelfand wrote that he was not attempting to “hinder or delay” the proceedings. Regardless, he wrote an appeal was necessary after spending considerable time in “significant coordination with the Bureau of Prisons.” He also wrote (via KNWA Fox 24) that a meeting was “necessary” in order to move forward with the appeal.
A substantive meeting with Duggar was a necessary prerequisite to finalizing Duggar’s opening brief so as to protect Duggar’s rights.
This will allegedly be the last time a delay is asked for.
To note, delays in the appeal have already come down the pipeline twice before, so this marks the third delay; it came in unopposed. The first and second delays came on July 28th and August 19th.
After being found guilty on one count of receiving and one count of possessing child pornography, Duggar was ultimately sentenced on the more severe of the two counts. Josh Duggar’s legal team vowed to appeal at the time and followed through on that intent.
Meanwhile, the eldest Duggar son has already began his prison sentence at Seagoville. Originally expected to last for 151 months, newer reports have indicated the former 19 Kids and Counting star has a prison release date of August 12, 2032 seemingly on the books already. If that is true, he will be out earlier than anticipated, though obviously his legal team is pursuing any and all angles to try to get the verdict rendered obsolete as a whole.
If they do not succeed, Duggar will also be on probation for 20 years and will be forced to register as a sex offender. Duggar family members will need to be approved and in the room with the star if he would like to see the children he shares with his wife, Anna; they welcomed their seventh child while he was out on bail.
