As The Case Builds Against Josh Duggar, His Legal Team Tries To Get Witness Info And More Suppressed

Josh Duggar 19 Kids and Counting Thanksgiving Episode screenshot

Josh Duggar’s trial is still gearing up to kick off in November, and in recent days there’s been a lot of movement from the prosecution and the defense. For one, it’s come out that one of Duggar’s co-workers from the car dealership housing the computer filled with child pornography has come forward and spoken out. In another bit of news, the former 19 Kids and Counting’s legal team is trying to get evidence dismissed related to the TV personality’s own body parts.

First and foremost, an unnamed co-worker has allegedly informed on the married star. According to court documents (via Radar Online) this person, referred to as Witness #3, said that Josh Duggar and only Josh Duggar used the computer that was seized during a raid back in 2019.

Law enforcement determined that one of these individuals—identified as “Witness #3” in the defendant’s motion—worked at the car lot and interviewed him. The individual told law enforcement that he began working at the defendant’s car lot in June 2019, that he did not access the internet at work, and that the computer in the office on the car lot belonged to and was only used by the defendant.

A previous investigation also noted that the computer in question required password information that Josh Duggar has also used for personal accounts, including social media such as Instagram. This time around the prosecution mentioned the witness also said they had limited knowledge of computers and did not even have social media should they have wanted to use the computer on the car lot. That witness’ own personal device was looked into by law enforcement as part of the investigation and nothing illegal was found on that device.

The raid on the car lot Duggar worked at was described in a motion by the prosecution, which comes as Duggar’s legal team is attempting to get the case dismissed. A second report (viaThe Sun) notes that the defense is also trying to get some images suppressed from the court case. These are actually images of the reality star’s hands which were taken when he was in custody with law enforcement?

How Are Photos Of Josh Duggar’s Hands Relevant To A Possessing Child Pornography Case?

While photos of Duggar’s hands may seem like an odd detail to mention, the prosecution is arguing two points. The first is that Duggar’s hands have a scar that matches marks made on the computer that features the child pornography at the heart of the case. The second is that the three photos taken are not only relevant, but were taken while the TV personality was in custody and that the star had “consented to have them taken. The prosecution also reported:

[It] did not constitute an unreasonable or warrantless search of the defendant [as] his hands were in plain view and clearly visible.

Not so fast, the defense is arguing. According to them, a warrant should have been gotten before the photos were taken, with a specific comment noting the prosecution, “did not have a warrant which authorized the taking of the photographs.” Due to this, that legal team feels as if the photos were legally unwarranted and should not be a part of the case. The motion to suppress also throws out words like “egregious” in relation to the action they feel law enforcement took.

Overall, it’s unclear if either of these bits of evidence will make it to the trial when it kicks off at the tail end of 2021. So far, Josh Duggar’s legal team has been able to successfully push back the trial and land some other wins for the star in regards to his bail situation and obtaining additional evidence. Now, we’ll have to wait and see, though, when it comes to what evidence will be able to be admitted or not.

Jessica Rawden
Managing Editor

Jessica Rawden is Managing Editor at CinemaBlend. She’s been kicking out news stories since 2007 and joined the full-time staff in 2014. She oversees news content, hiring and training for the site, and her areas of expertise include theme parks, rom-coms, Hallmark (particularly Christmas movie season), reality TV, celebrity interviews and primetime. She loves a good animated movie. Jessica has a Masters in Library Science degree from Indiana University, and used to be found behind a reference desk most definitely not shushing people. She now uses those skills in researching and tracking down information in very different ways.