Josh Duggar doesn’t believe he’s a guilty man.
The disgraced reality TV star is requesting his guilty verdict be overturned, and he’d like a brand-new trial.
Josh Duggar Wants A New Trial
Duggar initially filed an appeal to his conviction in October.
Read on to find out what his legal team claimed in the appeal…
According to legal documents obtained by The U.S. Sun, Duggar’s legal team claims he was “restrained” by armed federal agents on the day his Arkansas car lot was raided.
His Legal Team Claims He Was “Restrained” By Armed Federal Agents
“Federal agents surveilled Duggar’s business, waiting for him to arrive. The business was accessible only by a divided highway with no sidewalk and was ‘in the middle of nowhere,’” court papers read. “When Duggar arrived, agents—armed and wearing tactical gear—converged in six vehicles. Duggar immediately took out his phone and said he was calling his attorney. [An agent] took the phone from Duggar’s hand, preventing him from calling counsel.”
Duggar’s legal team claims he was “blindsided” and “not allowed to leave” in his car as it was being searched.
“Yet, against this backdrop, the Government argues Duggar ‘maintained unencumbered freedom of movement’ and that the district court was correct in concluding a reasonable person in Duggar’s position would have perceived himself as not having been ‘deprived of his freedom of action in any significant way,” The U.S. Sun reports. “The Government clings to the notion that Duggar was allegedly told he was free to leave—even though the Government is silent about the inconvenient fact that he had no means to leave. He would have effectively had to walk on the shoulder of a rural highway to leave the police-dominated environment.”
The Government Says He Was “Free To Leave”
His legal team argued that he was “restrained,” but the Government argued that he was not.
“Duggar was placed in a police vehicle with two armed agents. He was told his attorney could not join him after he attempted to call counsel, and he had no access to a vehicle,” the filing continued. “This Court should conclude a reasonable person in Duggar’s position would have felt ‘deprived of his freedom of action in any significant way.’”
He is asking for a new trial.
The Blast previously reported on Duggar’s child pornography case and subsequent prison sentencing.
On December 9, 2021, Josh was found guilty for possessing and receiving child pornography. Duggar was sentenced to 151 months in federal prison.
His legal team filed a motion for acquittal or a new trial on January 19, 2022.
They argued there was insufficient evidence that the 34-year-old actually viewed child pornographic material found on his office computer at his Arkansas car dealership.
Josh’s attorneys wrote in their motion, “The jury had no evidence that Duggar personally viewed any specific portion of any of the files allegedly found on the computer.”
US District Judge Timothy Brooks disagreed with their motion and wrote in his order on May 24, “Mr. Duggar’s argument lacks merit, as there is ample evidence he viewed the images of child pornography that had been downloaded to his business computer.”
