In the final hours before Josh Duggar was sentenced on child pornography charges, a big decision was made about his future. After Duggar’s defense team suggested an acquittal or a new trial for the case, Judge Timothy L. Brooks issued a sweeping ruling that could ultimately wipe out some of the The Duggar family’s hopes for clemency.
Brooks officially ruled there was no merit to Josh Duggar’s team claim he was deserving of an acquittal or a new trial. A report of Fox 24 noted that the defense requested two oral motions for acquittal and that the judge denied both bench motions.
The defense later filed another motion and argued that there was no “mens rea” evidence on which the jury could base their unanimous guilty verdict. The defense continued with the argument that due to the “alleged failure to disclose certain evidence in a timely manner and the Court’s ruling on the testimony”, a new trial was warranted. A previous argument also alleged that because the jury had no evidence that Josh Duggar had actually viewed child pornography, they could not convict him. Duggar was convicted charges by a jury in December 2021.
Judge Timothy L. Brooks mentioned in his decision that there was “ample evidence” that Josh Duggar had viewed child pornography on his work computer and summarized the evidence supported by key witnesses in the case. This included testimony confirming that the pornographic files were viewed on Duggar’s work computer and that Duggar was at the workplace at the time the images were viewed.
The court also dismissed an earlier defense allegation that another man, Caleb Williams, may have seen the footage instead. The judge noted that the lawsuit adequately showed that Josh Duggar was the only one present at the dealership when viewing the records and that the charges regarding Williams ultimately came to nothing. Finally, the judge denied a request related to the “non-disclosure of certain exhibits”, noting that a number of screenshots excluded from the trial were “not material to the defense”.
In short, the sentencing will proceed as planned despite the tries to dismiss the caseand Josh Duggar will receive his sentence for his two child pornography charges on Wednesday, May 25. It is still unclear what sentence the judge will hand down, but it should be noted that the prosecution wanted the maximum sentence of twenty years in prison, while the defense asked for five years. Some jurists believe that he will receive the maximum sentence. Reality TV fans can only watch from the sidelines and hope for justice.
As mentioned, Josh Duggar’s sentencing will take place on Wednesday, May 25. It remains to be seen what legal action might follow, but CinemaBlend might have updates on that in addition to some new shows should be released in 2022.