The defense and prosecution in Josh Duggar‘s child pornography care are debating the scheduling of his upcoming trial. Last week, his defense team, led by attorney Justin Gelfand, filed a motion in the Western District of Arkansas Court to delay the trial, which was previously scheduled for July 6, until February 2022.
“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,” the motion reads.
The defense said it requires “additional time to complete its review of the discovery and, separately, to pursue certain investigative leads based on the discovery.”
“In particular, based on the discovery disclosed to date, it appears there are certain key witnesses whom the Government did not interview and certain sources of possible evidence the Government did not obtain during its investigation,” the motion continues. “Thus, the defense requires additional time to navigate discovery issues with the Government and, if necessary, to raise any discovery disputes with this Court sufficiently in advance of trial.”
The prosecution filed a response advocating for a “reasonable continuance” of about three months to allow for the expert to review the digital evidence, stating that postponing the trial until next year “would result in unnecessary delay,” adding that “the Government has made timely and complete disclosure of all discovery material.”
“A continuance of approximately three (3) months will resolve most of defense counsel's calendar related issues,” the government said in response. “Thereafter, if any remaining trials factually pose a conflict, a subsequent motion can be filed stating such with specificity. In that instance, the Court then could appropriately tailor the length of the continuance to the actual conflict, so as to not result in unnecessary delay.”
Duggar faces up to 20 years in prison on each of the two counts if he is convicted. He currently has “unlimited contact” with his children if his wife Anna is present. She is pregnant and their children are Mackynzie Renée, 11, Michael James, 9, Marcus Anthony, 7, Meredith Grace, 5, Mason Garrett, 3, and Maryella Hope, 17 months. It's up to the judge to decide if the trial will be delayed.
