Josh Duggar misses chance to take plea deal as he faces 20 years behind bars in child pornography case
JOSH Duggar has passed the deadline to accept a plea deal before trial in his child pornography case, as he faces 20 years behind bars.
, 33, was arrested and charged with possessing and receiving child pornography in April 2021.
According to the Pretrial Scheduling Order, Josh had until October 18 to accept a plea agreement and change his non guilty plea.
The Sun can exclusively reveal no change of plea has been filed as of October 19.
If Josh files a change of plea after October 18, it will be considered an “open plea,” meaning he will plead guilty without the benefit of a plea agreement.
The court, however, could grant an exception if they are able to show good cause up to 10 days before trial.
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This isn't the first time Josh has refused to accept a plea deal, as The Sun previously reported he was , weeks before the arrest, according to court papers.
Josh’s decision to not change his plea comes after another blow to his case.
Jim Bob and Michelle’s oldest son requested a Franks Hearing, where he planned to criticize “the methods used by law enforcement to obtain the search warrant for his business and contends there was no probable cause to support the issuance of the warrant.”
He also filed a Motion to Suppress Evidence, claiming the court should exclude from trial the evidence obtained from his “seized electronic devices because it took investigators too long to perform their forensic analysis.”
Both requests were denied by the judge.
In September, the judge .
Attorneys for Josh because the government allegedly failed to preserve evidence favorable to a defendant that could exonerate him of the crime.
The court papers claimed certain people had access to Josh’s used car lot Wholesale Motorcars’ wireless internet.
Though law enforcement searched the witnesses’ devices, they allegedly “failed to preserve any evidence obtained during these searches.”
The first witness interviewed on December 16, 2019 is described as a “person of interest.”
The court papers read: “Witness #1 admitted to investigators he worked at the Car Lot at various times and that, on several occasions, he even stayed at the Car Lot overnight without Duggar’s knowledge or permission.
“Witness #1 admitted to viewing adult pornography through websites he accessed through the internet on his cellular phone and, when asked by these federal agents, denied viewing child pornography.”
The witness’ cell phone was searched and no child pornography was found.
Authorities “preserved no evidence whatsoever from the search of Witness #1’s phone including its contents and metadata,” according to court papers.
They asked to dismiss the case and at minimum “have an evidentiary hearing to determine what can be determined based on the searches performed and to explore the possibility of alternative remedies.”
Josh’s motion to have , as well as his motions to Suppress Statements and Request for Evidentiary Hearing, and Dismiss Indictment for Violation of the Appointments Clause.
Josh was in April.
Josh pleaded not guilty to the two child pornography counts.
The trial has been and has the potential to last until December 3.
The former star is currently on home confinement until his trial and is , who are longtime friends of Jim Bob and Michelle.
The Arkansas judge on the case .
Josh’s wife Anna, who is pregnant with their seventh child and due in the fall, is .
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Josh has with Anna present.
The family’s reality show , which Josh has not appeared on, was .
