Josh Duggar’s lawyers have filed a motion to have his guilty verdict thrown out or for him to face a new trial.
If both those requests are denied by the court, paperwork filed by his attorneys asks that the second and lesser charge he was found guilty of, possession of child pornography, be dismissed.
His team claim that the prosecution failed to prove beyond reasonable doubt that Josh ever looked at illegal images found on his computer, or that he knew that the “visual depictions were of a minor engaging in sexually explicit conduct.”
They suggest that both those points are grounds for an acquittal. In addition, they claim government lawyers “hid the ball” from the defence team by failing to promptly disclose new evidence they received from Caleb Williams, a former employee of Josh’s at Wholesale Motorcars.
They also believe law enforcement “failed to meaningfully investigate the possibility that anyone other than Duggar may have committed the crimes charged”.
Josh Duggar’s lawyers push for new trial
Josh Duggar’s attorneys revealed their plans to file post-trial motions following his guilty verdict in December.
According to The Sun, the new paperwork claims that “the evidence at trial established that certain files allegedly found on the HP desktop computer were never viewed by any user of the computer and that all the files at issue had been deleted shortly after being downloaded.”
“The jury had no evidence that Duggar personally viewed any specific portion of any of the files allegedly found on the computer,” the lawyers added.
Josh’s team also claim he should be given a new trial because “exculpatory evidence” — evidence which they claim would show Josh wasn’t to blame for the crime — was not turned over to them in a timely manner.
They claim Caleb Williams should have been called as a witness, and described him as “an individual who had access to the car lot and the HP desktop computer during certain relevant time periods.”
They also claim Williams changed his story after his initial interview, but emails containing “critical” evidence were only handed over to them after significant delay.
In one of the emails he wrote, “I was completely mistaken about not being at the Wholesale Motorcars lot during the time I was in Arkansas (AR) between May 8, 2019 – May 11, 2019.
“I do not know if I was on the lot computer or even if I ended up going there. It looks like during my time there, I did odd work for the guys and maybe even Josh Duggar.”
In another he wrote, “I’ve also found a few more passwords if you all want them. At some point several of the Duggar guys asked me to run the back ends of some of their social media to help them sell cars. Jed, Josiah, and Joseph I do believe. I still have access to Jed’s fake account and Josiah’s account.”
The defence team claim the fact they weren’t promptly shown this evidence meant they were left unable to impeach Williams and force him to give evidence at the trial.
They also accused the government of breaking rules by not turning over exhibits which they claim were created by prosecution expert witness James Fottrell ahead of the trial.
Where is Josh Duggar now?
Josh Duggar is currently incarcerated in a single cell at Washington County Correctional Center.
He is reportedly being kept alone for his safety, rather than because he fell into any trouble at the jail. The former reality TV star will remain behind bars until his sentencing, which is expected to happen in April, although the official date has not been set yet. He is facing up to 20 years in prison for each count and up to a $250,000 fine per count.
Josh does get phone privileges in jail, and a list of who he chats with was made public. He has spoken to both his parents and wife Anna, but it appears that Jedidiah Duggar is the only sibling who has talked to the disgraced 19 Kids and Counting star since his trial.
Whether the court will grant Josh Duggar a new trial remains unknown. There will be a ruling on the motions filed at a later date, but until then he will reamin in Washington County Correctional Center awaiting his sentencing.
This family has major issues, and he needs to be in jail and he’s a child toucher, it has been proven…and that is FACT..ALSO he shouldn’t be allowed around any children, even his own…he did wrong and should pay for it..
I think a lot of people are sick of Josh getting by with doing things with no repercussions. Jim bob & Michelle use their religion to try to manipulate everyone. Not what original Christianity was about. They need to just disappear from view and go back to the cult and stop forcing themselves and their belief on everyone else. They aren’t any more special than anyone else