JOSH Duggar’s request to see specific evidence in his child pornography case has been denied, as an Arkansas judge believes his legal team “failed to prove he is entitled to the information.”
Josh, 33, was arrested and charged with possessing and receiving child pornography in April.
Josh’s legal team filed a Motion to Compel requesting the government provide them with information related to “an undated screen shot” and “all law enforcement reports and related discovery prepared by the Little Rock” in July.
Now, The Sun can exclusively reveal Josh’s request has been turned down in yet another blow to his case.
Josh’s first request was for “information that appears under the ‘Summary’ and ‘Investigative Activity’ tabs that are visible in the screen shot.”
In court papers obtained by The Sun, the judge found Josh failed to “show that he is entitled to the information contained in the two tabs appearing in the screen shot.”
Josh then requested “the production of the screen shot in ‘native format’ and the disclosure of the date and time of capture and the name of the individual who captured it.”
Because “native format” is “too vague to be understood” by the court, the motion was denied as well.
However, the request for the date, time and name of the person who captured the screen shot was granted.
The screen shot was not provided to the Court, but was indicated that three law enforcement officers “downloaded child sexual abuse material from the same IP address at around the same time on the same date, May 14, 2019.”
As for the police reports from the Arkansas Little Rock Police department, Josh’s team withdrew the request at the hearing.
Josh also requested logs from the Jonesboro and Ozark police departments.
Josh’s team argued that the logs can be “used to determine the type of hardware a file was allegedly downloaded from” and “could show whether those downloads were successful, whether there’s a pathway that’s reflected in there, how long it took, whether there was a disconnect and then a reconnect, and whether [the other two officers] were able to actually download the file in the first place.”
The court granted this request.
In Josh’s initial request, he claimed his legal team “repeatedly attempted to obtain this unambiguously discoverable evidence,” but the Government has “refused to produce this evidence.”
Josh’s team claimed he is “legally and constitutionally entitled to” the evidence, but “the government has flat-out refused to produce it.”
The 19 Kids and Counting star’s attorney even took aim at authorities, including Special Agent Faulkner, who spoke at Josh’s detention hearing.
The court papers claimed he omitted the “alleged investigative activities of two other law enforcement agencies” when testifying at the hearing under oath.
They believe the evidence shouldn’t be allowed and they question his “credibility.”
Prosecutors responded by asking the court to deny Josh’s team’s request to see the evidence, as they argue in the court papers: “In his motion, however, the defendant seeks to compel the United States to turn over either nonexistent or immaterial information to which he is not entitled.
“Specifically, with respect to Detective Kalmer’s undercover downloads, the defendant seeks material that does not exist.”
The court papers continued: “The information the defendant seeks is nonexistent, and this portion of his motion to compel should therefore be denied.”
As The Sun reported, Josh pleaded not guilty to the two child pornography counts.
Josh requested the court postpone his July trial date “in or after February 2022.”
The United States responded by agreeing to a three-month delay, but they explained anything additional is “unnecessary.”
The trial has been reset to November 30 and has the potential to last until December 3.
The former 19 Kids and Counting star is currently on home confinement until his trial and is living with third party custodians LaCount and Maria Reber, who are longtime friends of Jim Bob and Michelle.
Josh is residing in a massive mansion in Elkins, Arkansas with the Reber family.
The Arkansas judge on the case ordered Josh to wear a GPS ankle monitor.
Josh’s wife Anna, who is pregnant with their seventh child and due in the fall, is standing by her husband and has visited him with their children.
Josh has unlimited access to his children with Anna present.
The family’s reality show Counting On, which Josh has not appeared on, was canceled in light of the scandal.
